With revision, R.I. ends 2016 with smaller labor force, fewer jobs, unemployment rate below 5%

REVISIONS TO 2016 DATA show that Rhode Island gained fewer jobs as its labor force shrunk compared with previously reported information. As a result, the state saw its unemployment rate by the end of the year fall to levels not seen since 2007. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING
REVISIONS TO 2016 DATA show that Rhode Island gained fewer jobs as its labor force shrunk compared with previously reported information. As a result, the state saw its unemployment rate by the end of the year fall to levels not seen since 2007. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING

PROVIDENCE – Annual revisions released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the R.I. Department of Labor and Training’s Labor Market Information Division show the state’s unemployment rate dipped below 5.0 percent for the first time since May 2007.

Benchmark revisions concluded that in December 2016 the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent – one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the 5 percent originally reported. The drop in the jobless rate is thanks to a decline in the state’s labor force of 2,714 compared with the original data, offsetting a 2,129 decline in the number of jobs in the Ocean State.

The largest downward revision in the jobless rate was made in the month of October, when the rate was recalculated from 5.5 percent to 5.1 percent. Additional revisions saw drops of 0.3 percentage points in August, September and November. June, July and December 2016 unemployment rates were each revised down one-tenth of a percentage point. There were no revisions to the state’s rates between January and May 2016.

In addition, the revisions found the state’s number of unemployed residents was lower eight of 12 months in 2016. The number of unemployed residents in December 2016 was changed to 27,300 – 500 fewer than the original statistics from DLT – and the lowest since March 2007.

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From December 2015 to December 2016 the number of unemployed Rhode Islanders at a given point in time fell by 2,900, whereas pre-benchmark data reported a decline in that period of 2,200.

Also overstated was the seasonally adjusted employment level. In 11 of 12 months the revision showed that fewer people were employed that had been reported initially. Original reports found 522,500 employed residents in January grew to 525,500 by the end of the year when, in fact, benchmark revisions showed growth from 522,200 to 523,300.

Monday’s announcement reported employment hit a high 2016 during the month of November at 523,400 – which is 2,800 less than the original 2016 employment peak reported for October 2016.

The number of employed Rhode Islanders increased by 1,400 from the December 2015 employment level (521,900) according to the revisions, less than half of the pre-revision estimate of 3,300.

According to the revisions the state’s labor force fell to its lowest point since July 2002 in December at 550,600. It had peaked in June and July with 552,700 as the revised amount. The labor force fell by 1,500 individuals from January to December – pre-benchmark estimates indicated the labor force had increased by 1,100 over the year.

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