PROVIDENCE – The unemployment rate in the Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area declined 0.6 percentage points year over year to 3.1% in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday.
The national unemployment rate was 3.3% in November, not seasonally adjusted.
The metro area’s labor force totaled 700,131 in November, a 0.9% increase year over year. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed in the area declined 15.3% to 21,580 individuals. Nonfarm employment in the Providence metro area was 611,800 in November, a 2.2% increase year over year.
In the New Bedford metro area, the unemployment rate declined 0.3 percentage points over the year to 3.5% in November. The area’s labor force remained stable year over year at 86,898 while the number of unemployed declined 7.6% year over year to 3,029 people. Nonfarm payrolls in the area increased 0.4% in that time to 68,200.
The unemployment rate in the Norwich-New London, Conn.-Westerly metro area remained level from one year prior at 3.2%. The labor force increased 0.7% year over year to 143,530. The number of unemployed in the metro area declined by 148 people year over year to 4,656. Nonfarm employment in the area increased 0.2% year over year in November to 130,600.
The BLS said that in the U.S. in November, unemployment rates were lower a year earlier in 223 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 137 areas and unchanged in 29 areas.
