PROVIDENCE – Unemployment in both the Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area and in Rhode Island declined 0.5 percentage points year over year to 3.5 percent in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday.
The labor force in the Providence metro was 692,899 in September, a 9,246-person increase year over year. The number of unemployed declined in that time to 24,386 from 27,427 in the metro area. Nonfarm employment in the metro area totaled 601,400 workers in September, a 1.2 percent increase from 594,300 the year prior.
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Read PBN’s coverage of statewide Rhode Island job figures for September here.
In the New Bedford metro area, unemployment was 4.6 percent in September, a decline from 5.1 percent in September 2017. The number of unemployed in the area was 4,008, a 306-person decline year over year. The labor force increased 3,575 workers year over year in September. New Bedford metro nonfarm payrolls increased 900 workers from September 2017 to September 2018 to a total of 68,700 workers.
The BLS said unemployment rates were lower in September than a year earlier in 308 of the 388 metropolitan areas, higher in 58 areas and unchanged in 22 areas. It said nonfarm employment in the U.S. metros largely remained unchanged year over year.
Read PBN’s state unemployment comparisons for New England in September here.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
