(Updated, 12:15 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island regained an unfortunate distinction in November, as the state’s 12.7 percent unemployment rate turned out to be the second-worst in the nation, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.
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Although that was down from the 12.9 percent rate recorded in October, Nevada’s rate fell further to 12.3 percent, pushing it from second-highest to a tie for third with California and South Carolina.
The only state with higher unemployment than Rhode Island is hard-hit Michigan, where the jobless rate was 14.7 percent in November.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 10 percent in November, while the jobless rate in Massachusetts was 8.8 percent. Connecticut recorded the second-largest decrease, after Kentucky, as its unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent from 8.8 percent in October.
“Regional and state unemployment rates were generally lower in November,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a news release. In all, 36 states and Washington, D.C., recorded jobless-rate decreases compared with October, while eight states saw unemployment increase and six states saw no change.
“The weakness in the labor market is certainly a negative for state budgets and state tax collections,” Alex Miron, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pa., told Bloomberg News. “The rate of decline in employment is much, much lower than it was earlier in the year. The fact that it’s no longer falling rapidly is a positive sign.”
