Providence jobless rate lags nation’s in Jan.

SPENCER POWER, right, a recruiter for Broadview Staffing Services, right, interviews Yohana Baez at the netWORKri career center in Providence. /
SPENCER POWER, right, a recruiter for Broadview Staffing Services, right, interviews Yohana Baez at the netWORKri career center in Providence. /

Unemployment rates were lower in January than a year earlier in 179 of the 369 metropolitan areas nationwide, higher in 156 and unchanged in 34, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said today in its monthly report.

Nationwide, the January unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, before seasonal adjustment.

In the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up from December’s 5.0 percent but below January 2006’s 6.3 percent. The area’s civilian labor force (based on place of residence) was 714,900 workers, declining from December’s 717,400 but rising from the year-ago 707,300.

In the New Bedford metro area, the jobless rate was 9.4 percent, up from December’s 7.0 percent and January 2006’s 8.2 percent, but the area’s civilian labor force was 86,300 workers, up from December’s 86,000 and January 2006’s 84,700.

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In Rhode Island, the jobless rate was 5.5 percent, up from December’s 4.6 percent but below January 2006’s 5.9 percent. The state’s civilian labor force was 578,000 workers, slipping from December’s 580,600 but above January 2006’s 572,400.

In Massachusetts, the jobless rate was 6.0 percent, up from December’s 4.9 percent and January 2006’s 5.4 percent. The state’s civilian labor force was 3.406 million workers, down from December’s 3.425 million and January 2006’s 3.363 million.

Additional information, including the 22-page Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report,is available at www.bls.gov.

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