Projo Biz Blog

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Rhode Island's increase in unemployment was the worst in the nation last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.

The jobless rate in Rhode Island rose last year by 2.6 percentage points, reaching 9.4 percent by the end of December. The closest competitors in the category were Florida (up 2.1 percentage points) and Nevada (up 2 percentage points).

The global recession has led to increases in unemployment across the country. But overall, the average increase in joblessness in the U.S. last year was 1.2 percentage points, less then half the spike in Rhode Island.

For more on the state's employment troubles, read recent Providence Journal stories here:
"Jobless rate hits 10.3 percent in R.I.," March 3, 2009
"Labor and Training still plagued by backlog," Feb. 27, 2009
"Rhode Island unemployment rate hits 10 percent," Jan. 23, 2009

 Tags  Department of Labor and Training economic development economy employment jobs politics recession unemployment

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