BLS: New England jobless rate drops in February

THE NEW ENGLAND jobless rate was 5.3 percent in February, a full percentage point less than in February 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
THE NEW ENGLAND jobless rate was 5.3 percent in February, a full percentage point less than in February 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE – The New England jobless rate was 5.3 percent in February, a full percentage point less than in February 2014, and two-tenths of a percentage point less than the national rate of 5.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Connecticut displaced Rhode Island for the highest unemployment rate in the region in February at 6.4 percent, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the Ocean State’s rate of 6.3 percent. Vermont and New Hampshire had the lowest jobless rates at 3.9 percent, while Maine and Massachusetts had rates of 5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

Connecticut and Rhode Island had unemployment rates that were significantly higher than the national average, while New Hampshire and Vermont had rates that were significantly lower.
Over the last year, the bureau also said that five New England states recorded statistically significant unemployment rate decreases with declines ranging from 2.1 percentage points in Rhode Island to 0.6 point in Connecticut.

Rhode Island’s over-the-year decline was tied with Kentucky for the largest rate decline nationwide, the bureau said.

Among the four census region and divisions, the Northeast – which includes New England and the Middle Atlantic states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – had the second-highest jobless rate at 5.6 percent, behind only the West at 6.1 percent. The West includes the Mountain division (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Pacific division (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington). The South’s jobless rate was 5.4 percent in February, and the Midwest, at 5.1 percent, was the lowest.

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