PROVIDENCE – Despite being a hair over the national rate, the seasonally adjusted 3.7% unemployment rate in Rhode Island in April was the second-highest rate in New England, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday.
The Ocean State’s percentage-point decline in unemployment, however, was the fourth-fastest year-over-year decline in the region. The decline in the unemployment rate included a decline in the labor force and the number of unemployed, as well as an increase in the number of employed. The labor force also declined in Maine year over year in April, as well as a negligible decline in Vermont.
Vermont had the lowest unemployment in the country in April at 2.2%, a 0.5 percentage-point decline year over year. The largest percentage-point decline year over year in the nation was in Delaware in April, falling 0.7 percentage points to 3.2%.
New England unemployment in April:
- Vermont: 2.2%, a 0.5 percentage-point decline year over year
- New Hampshire: 2.4%, a 0.2 percentage-point decline year over year
- Massachusetts: 2.9%, a 0.6 percentage-point decline year over year
- Maine: 3.3%, unchanged from April 2018
- Rhode Island: 3.7%, a 0.4 percentage-point decline year over year
- Connecticut: 3.8%, a 0.5 percentage-point decline year over year
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
