R.I. lands $542,346 from Labor Department

By Rebecca Keister
PBN Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - Rhode Island, with an 11 percent unemployment rate, will receive $542,346 from U.S. Department of Labor grants given to fund re-employment and eligibility assessments for unemployment insurance.

The Labor Department awarded a total of $65.5 million in grants on May 7, including $7.3 million to five New England states.

Massachusetts, where the April unemployment rate was reported at 8.1 percent, was awarded $4.5 million.

“Today’s grant announcement will allow states to provide personalized assessments for recipients of unemployment insurance to help them get back on their feet faster,” Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis said in a prepared statement.

The funds will be used to conduct in-person assessments that will include development of a re-employment plan for claimants and review of claimants’ eligibility.

This is the eighth year the Labor Department has awarded these grants through its Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment initiative.

Forty states, along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, received grants.