R.I. among 28 states with major jobless rate drops in April

RHODE ISLAND was among 28 states that had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in April, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
RHODE ISLAND was among 28 states that had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in April, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island was among 28 states that had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in April, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rhode Island saw its unemployment rate drop to 6.1 percent, a decrease of 2 percentage points from April 2014. Kentucky shared the same decrease, going to 5 percent in April from 7 percent a year earlier.
The two states were behind only Michigan, which experienced a 2.1 percentage point drop during that period to 5.4 percent.
The federal agency said that 45 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and five states had increases.
It also said that the national jobless rate was essentially unchanged from March at 5.4 percent and was eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than in April 2014.

There were 33,700 unemployed individuals in Rhode Island in April, a drop of 25 percent compared with April 2014’s 44,900. The labor force also decreased during that time to 553,800 from 555,300 a year ago, a 0.3 percent drop.
In April, over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia and decreased only in West Virginia (-0.7 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in Utah (+4.0 percent), followed by Florida and Washington (+3.6 percent each).
Rhode Island’s nonfarm employment grew to 481,400, from 477,100, a nine-tenths of a percentage point increase.

No posts to display