RI Has Second Worst Unemployment Rate in the Country

For the year of 2013, Rhode Island had the second worst unemployment rate in the country at 9.5 percent. Only Nevada came first with an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. These figures are according to revised state-by-state figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For nearly the entire year, Nevada maintained an unemployment rate higher than that of RI. Beginning in January, Nevada had a rate at 10.5 percent compared to RI’s 9.6 percent.

Despite this, Nevada’s rate of unemployment steadily decreased throughout the year. Meanwhile, RI unemployment rate fluctuated between 9.6 and 9.5 percent during the first nine months of the year.

Both states tied for the worst rate in the country in October at 9.4 percent, and then RI took first place for the last two months of the year with a rate of 9.3 percent compared to Nevada’s 9.0 percent.

In New England, only Massachusetts’ average unemployment rate rose from 2012 to 2013 — from 6.8 percent to 7.1 percent. Average rates elsewhere in the region all dropped for 2013: Connecticut, 7.8 percent; Maine, 6.7 percent; New Hampshire, 5.3 percent; and Vermont, 4.4 percent.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/srgune.pdf