New England jobless rate essentially unchanged at 5.9% in October

THE OCTOBER JOBLESS RATE IN NEW ENGLAND was 5.9 percent, essentially unchanged from September's 6 percent, and only slightly higher than the nationwide jobless rate of 5.8 percent. / COURTESY BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
THE OCTOBER JOBLESS RATE IN NEW ENGLAND was 5.9 percent, essentially unchanged from September's 6 percent, and only slightly higher than the nationwide jobless rate of 5.8 percent. / COURTESY BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

PROVIDENCE – The New England unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in October, basically unchanged from September’s 6 percent, but less than it was a year ago when it reached 7.1 percent, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.
Among the nine geographic regions, the Pacific Northwest had the highest jobless rate at 7 percent in October. The West Central division had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.5 percent. All nine divisions had statistically significant rate declines compared with a year earlier.
The New England rate was similar to the nationwide jobless rate in October of 5.8 percent.

With a jobless rate of 7.4 percent in October, Rhode Island had the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation among all states and the District of Columbia, and the highest among New England states.

The Ocean State was the only New England state to record a statistically significant unemployment rate change over the month with a 0.2 percentage point decline, from 7.6 percent in September.
Over the past year, Rhode Island’s jobless rate has declined 2 percentage points. In comparison, New Hampshire’s jobless rate decreased 1 point, to 4.2 percent, while Connecticut went from 7.6 percent to 6.4 percent, Maine from 6.5 percent to 5.8 percent, and Massachusetts from 7.2 percent to 6 percent. Vermont was unchanged at 4.4 percent.

Georgia had the highest unemployment rate in the country in October at 7.7 percent, followed by the District of Columbia and Mississippi at 7.6 percent, and Rhode Island, 7.4 percent.

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