PROVIDENCE – The unemployment rate in the Providence-Warwick Fall River metropolitan area was 12.6% in August, not seasonally adjusted, an increase from 3.7% one year prior, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.
The national non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August was 8.5%
One month prior, the jobless rate in the metro area was 12.7%.
The Providence metro labor force in August totaled 556,200, a 6.9% decline year over year. The number of unemployed residents totaled 85,378, an increase from 25,568 one year prior, but a decline from 88,751 in July.
The highest unemployment rate in any metro area in the nation was 22.9% in the El Centro, Calif., metro area. Year over year, the unemployment rate increased in 287 of 289 metro area in the United States.
The unemployment rate in the New Bedford metro area in August was 13%, an increase from 4.2% one year prior and a decline from 19% in July. The metro area had a labor force of 81,704 and had 4,753 unemployed in August. Nonfarm employment totaled 60,500, a 9.4% decline year over year.
In the Norwich-New London, Conn.-Westerly metro area, the unemployment rate was 10.2% in August, an increase from 3.5% one year prior and a decline from 12% in July. The labor force in the metro area was 139,422 and the number of unemployed totaled 14,192. Nonfarm employment in the area totaled 114,700, a 8.5% decline year over year.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
