RI unemployment to 11.5%, lowest since July 2009

Associated Press

Unemployment in Rhode Island fell three-tenths of a percentage point in September to 11.5 percent, continuing a downward trend and marking the lowest jobless rate in the state since July 2009.

The state Department of Labor and Training said on Friday that Rhode Island's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped for the seventh consecutive month.

The state's jobless rate is still much higher than the national rate, which stood at 9.6 in August.

Even with the decrease in the unemployment rate, the labor department says the number of Rhode Island jobs fell by 1,000 from August to September. The drop was in the private sector, especially accommodation and food services.