Rhode Island Employment Snapshot, December 2012: Tied for Worst

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate renewed its incremental decline, to 10.2% in December, although the rate of its employment increase continued at the more-moderated results seen in November. In the two months prior to the election, Rhode Island’s employment growth was unusually strong.

The first chart below shows that both labor force and employment continued to move upward in December. The second chart shows that the Ocean State still has a long way to go to reach its January 2007 level of employment, and is still well behind Massachusetts and Connecticut, despite several months of employment bleeding in Connecticut.

Nationwide, Rhode Island is now tied for the worst unemployment rate in the country, with Nevada having made up its huge gap with Rhode Island.