Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has inched down again, from 7.9 percent in June to 7.7 percent in July, according to data released today by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The 7.7 percent rate is the lowest level since June, 2008, according to figures compiled by the DLT.
The number of Rhode Island based jobs increased by 1,200 from June 2014 and 5,600 since June 2013.
The estimates for nonfarm payroll in the Ocean State was 477,800 in July, the highest number since September 2008.
While the data is good news for a state that has struggled with a bad economy since the economic crash of 2008, Rhode Island lags behind our New England neighbors in the unemployment rate index. The national unemployment rate in July was 6.2 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The DLT statement said that there were ``robust employment gains’’ in professional and businesses services, financial services and real estate. But losses were reported in manufacturing, food services, health care and social assistance,
The data shows that Rhode Island is still recovering from the recession, but that things are looking up. Unemployment in the Ocean State was 11.4 percent in January, 2011, when Gov. Lincoln Chafee took office.
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