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Although a large portion of the country is experiencing economic strife, finding jobs in Rhode Island is more difficult than looking for employment in many areas. According to the most recent data released by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state had the highest unemployment rate in the nation during the month of September. For various reason, the state has often ranked near the top in the country as far as joblessness goes, but this is the first time that Rhode Island has been Number one in unemployment since the Bureau began tracking this data 32 years ago.

In August, Michigan had the had the highest unemployment rate in the country, with 8.7 percent of its residents without work. Last month, the same portion of the population was unable to find jobs. The national unemployment rate was also 6.1 percent for the yet another month.

“Michigan is the poster child for recessionary conditions in the job market,” said Jared Bernstein, who is a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. “It’s amazing and disheartening that Rhode Island just took its place.” As of last month, 50,200 individuals were claiming unemployment benefits in the state, which is a record high. September also saw the loss of 1,300 jobs in Rhode Island.

Little to no job growth means that there is a greater amount of competition for employment. Many individuals are now expecting lower pay than they usually would. Statistics for the state’s jobless rate do not take into account those that are considered underemployed. According to Bernstein, throughout the nation there are approximately three of these underemployed individuals for every available job.

Over the last nine months, 12,600 jobs in Rhode Island have been lost. The state’s unemployment rate has jumped from 5.7 percent to the current 8.8 percent. Still, the situation has not yet reached the worst that Rhode Island has seen. During the recession that occurred between 1989 to 1991, the state’s jobless rate reached 9 percent. Altogether, 48,200 jobs were lost before the area recovered.

Following Rhode Island and Michigan, the state’s with the highest unemployment rates are Mississippi, where 7.8 percent of residents are without work and California, which has a jobless rate of 7.7 percent.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 am and is filed under job search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.