Rhode Island unemployment in December better than expected

Posted on March 11, 2013

The state’s labor department just revised its numbers from December, and it looks like Rhode Island unemployment had better numbers than initially expected.

Revised statistics indicate that the RI unemployment rate for December 2012 fell to 9.9 percent—three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the 10.2 percent originally estimated.

The revised rates show a consistent month-to-month decline in the RI unemployment rate over the year, from a high of 10.8 percent in January to a low of 9.9 percent in December. In a similar vein, the number of unemployed RI residents for December 2012 was 55,600, a decrease of 2,200 from the original estimate.

The revised statistics also indicate the number of RI-based jobs for the end of 2012 was 465,600, up 6,800 from original December 2012 estimates. In all, ten industry sectors experienced upward revisions as a result of the benchmark process with the largest gains being reported in the Professional & Business Services (+1,900), Other Services (+1,700), Accommodation & Food Services (+1,600), Health Care & Social Assistance (+1,500), Retail Trade (+1,500), Financial Activities (+1,000) and Government (+800) sectors. Smaller but still positive gains were noted in the Wholesale Trade (+400), Transportation & Utilities (+200) and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (+200) sectors. Offsetting the upward revisions were downward revisions reported in four industry sectors; Educational Services (-1,300), Information (-1,100), Manufacturing (-1,000) and Construction (-600).