BOSTON – Rhode Island’s 10.9 percent unemployment rate in April was the third highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Ocean State had ranked as fourth highest in the three previous months of 2011.
By contrast, New Hampshire posted the third-lowest rate in the nation at 4.9 percent; also recording lower-than-average unemployment rates were: Vermont, 5.3 percent, Maine, 7.6 percent and Massachusetts, 7.8 percent.
New England’s unemployment rate was “essentially unchanged” at 7.9 percent in April. Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to report the highest unemployment rate, at 11.1 percent in April, while the West North Central registered the lowest rate at 6.8 percent.
