PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island labor department says the unemployment rate dropped to 7.1% in March. That is down 0.2 percentage points from February.
The U.S. unemployment rate in March was 6%. Some 2,900 people entered the workforce in Rhode Island in March.
But the state has 35,100 fewer jobs than in the same period last year at the very beginning of the pandemic.
Accommodations and food services saw the biggest job losses since March 2020, with 8,900 fewer jobs in those sectors.
Health care and social assistance followed with 6,000 fewer jobs.
There were 1,000 fewer unemployed Rhode Islanders in March than in February.
