Rhode Island jobs decline

Posted on July 29, 2012

The number of Rhode Island jobs available has gone down, according to recent employment reports.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said this week that twenty-seven states recorded unemployment rate increases, 11 states and the District of Columbia posted rate decreases, and 12 states had no change.

Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while three states experienced increases.

The national jobless rate, at 8.2 percent, was unchanged from May but 0.9 percentage point lower than in June 2011.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 29 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 21 states. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in California (+38,300), followed by Ohio (+18,400) and North Carolina (+16,900). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Wisconsin (-13,200), followed by Tennessee (-12,100) and Maryland (-11,000). Alaska experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+1.0 percent), followed by South Dakota (+0.7 percent) and North Dakota (+0.6 percent). New Mexico, Vermont, and Wisconsin experienced the largest over-the-month percentage declines in employment (-0.5 percent each).

Over the year, nonfarm  employment increased in 44 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 6 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+6.5 percent), followed by Louisiana (+2.8 percent). The largest over-the-year  percentage decrease in employment occurred in Rhode Island (-0.8 percent), followed by Wisconsin (-0.7 percent).

Six states had statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in June: Alabama and New Jersey (+0.4 percentage point each), Alaska and New York (+0.3 point each), Wisconsin (+0.2 point), and Pennsylvania (+0.1 point). The District of Columbia reported the only significant rate decrease in June (-0.2 percentage point). The remaining 44 states recorded jobless rates that were not measurably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes.