By News Staff
news@abc6.com
Job numbers and statistics from the RI Department of Labor and Training:
The RI Department of Labor and Training announced that the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2012 dropped to 10.9 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the May 2012 rate. This represents the second consecutive monthly decrease in the unemployment rate and is the lowest RI rate since January 2012 (10.9%).
The state's June 2012 rate was down half of a percentage point from the previous June.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month and down nine-tenths of a percentage point over the year.
The RI unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point over the month.
The number of unemployed decreased by 1,100 over the month, reaching its lowest level since May 2009.
RI-based jobs decreased 900 over the month, with the greatest losses reported in Retail Trade and the greatest gains reported in Other Services.
The number of unemployed RI residents—those residents classified as available for and actively seeking employment—decreased by 1,100 over the May figure to reach 60,300 in June. Over the year, the number of unemployed RI residents dropped by 3,700. This is the lowest level of unemployed since May 2009.
Due to numerous eligibility requirements, the number of unemployed RI residents differs from the number of RI Unemployment Insurance recipients. The average weekly claim load for RI Unemployment Insurance benefits in June was 26,862, down 185 (-0.7%) from the May average of 27,046 and down 4,086 (-13.2%) from the June 2011 average of 30,947.
The number of employed RI residents was down 400 over the May figures, dropping to 495,000 in June. Over the year, the number of employed RI residents was down 4,500 from June 2011.
The RI labor force totaled 555,200 in June 2012, down 1,600 from May 2012 and down 8,200 from June 2011 estimates. The labor force decrease reflected losses in employed residents combining with the losses in unemployed residents. This is the lowest labor force level since January 2005.
