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New England's unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point in March to 7.8 percent - the highest it had been since December 1992; nationally, the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 to 8.5 percent in March.

Over the year, New England's unemployment rate rose 3.0 percentage points; nationally, the unemployment rate was up 3.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Rhode Island's 10.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest in New England and the sixth highest in the country. The Labor Department noted that the unemployment rate in Rhode Island continued to be at its highest point since the Bureau first began collecting state labor force data in 1976.

Four other New England states also posted jobless rates that were significantly different from the 8.5 percent rate in the United States. New Hampshire (6.2 percent), Vermont (7.2 percent), and Connecticut (7.5 percent) recorded lower-than-average unemployment rates in March.

In March, New Hampshire was the only New England state to post a significant increase in its unemployment rate over the month, up 0.5 percentage point; the remaining New England states were among 30 states and the District of Columbia that registered March unemployment rates that were not appreciably different from those of a month earlier.

Over the year, every New England state recorded a measurable jobless rate increase, led by Rhode Island, up 3.7 percentage points; Massachusetts and Maine recorded rate increases of 3.1 percentage points or more; Vermont, Connecticut, and New Hampshire had smaller (but also statistically significant) rate increases from March 2008.

The jobless rate was at its highest point in over 17 years in Maine. In Connecticut and Vermont, they were at their highest points in over 16 years; Massachusetts' jobless rate was at its highest point in 16 years.

 Tags  Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island U.S. Bureau of Labor Vermont

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