Rhode Island jobs reevaluated

Posted on February 28, 2017

The state labor market and job numbers for Rhode Island jobs were recently reevaluated.

The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training’s Labor Market Information Division in conjunction with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently completed their annual revision of labor force statistics. This year labor force statistics were revised back to January 2012.

Benchmark revisions to the state’s 2016 unemployment rate indicate that the state ended the year with a 4.9 percent unemployment rate, one-tenth (-0.1) of a percentage point lower than originally reported for December 2016. Unemployment rates were unchanged during the first five months of the year and revised downward during the remaining seven months.

The largest downward revisions occurred between August and November, when the rate was revised downward by four-tenths (-0.4) of a percentage point in October and by three-tenths (-0.3) of a percentage point in August, September, and November. The June, July, and December rates were each revised down one-tenth (-0.1) of a percentage point.

The benchmark process also revealed that the number of unemployed RI residents was overestimated eight of the twelve months in 2016. The year ended with 27,300 RI residents unemployed, 500 less than previous estimates indicated. Over the year, the number of unemployed RI residents fell 2,900; pre-benchmarked data indicated a drop of 2,200. The benchmarked December unemployment level is now currently the lowest unemployment level since March 2007.