PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island ended 2016 with a 4.9 percent unemployment rate, marking the first time it has dipped below 5 percent in nearly a decade.
The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training recently completed an annual revision of labor force statistics with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The department said Monday that the revisions indicate that the state ended the year with a 4.9 percent unemployment rate, one-tenth of a percentage point lower than originally reported for December 2016.
It hasn’t been that low since May 2007.
Unemployment rates were unchanged during the first five months of 2016. They were lowered during the remaining months. Adjustments ranged from one-tenth of a percentage point to four-tenths of a percentage point.
Rhode Island’s unemployment rate is higher than the national rate.
