WASHINGTON – If misery loves company, Rhode Island’s labor force is getting more companionship with each passing month.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said today that more than one-quarter of U.S. states – 13 in all, including Rhode Island – had unemployment rates greater than 10 percent in May. Eight states, again including Rhode Island, posted their highest jobless rates last month since records began in 1976.
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Rhode Island’s unemployment rate reached 12.1 percent in May, up from 11.1 percent in April, the government reported today. The state’s jobless rate has been greater than 10 percent since January.
In all, 48 states saw their unemployment rates rise in May – Vermont’s stood steady at 7.3 percent, while North Dakota’s fell to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent. Michigan continued to have the nation’s highest jobless rate, reaching 14.1 percent in May.
President Barack Obama recently predicted that the national unemployment rate, which reached 9.4 percent in May, will top 10 percent for the first time since 1983 before the end of this year.
“It’s tough everywhere,” Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., told Bloomberg News. “Nobody’s really been spared.” Vitner forecasts that the largest increases in unemployment will occur in states that are dependent on manufacturing, construction and financial services.
