Boston – The New England Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released New England and state unemployment numbers for August 2017. These data are supplied by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program which produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, states, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence. Some highlights of the attached release are below:
- The New England unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0 percent in August ̶ one year ago, the New England jobless rate was 3.9 percent. The U.S. jobless rate was little changed from July (4.4 percent).
- Three New England states had jobless rates that were significantly different from that of the nation. Maine (3.8 percent), Vermont (3.0 percent) and New Hampshire (2.7 percent) had significantly lower unemployment rates and were among 19 states in the country to do so.
- Over the month, no New England state had a significant over-the-year jobless rate change.
- Over the year, Rhode Island was the only New England state with a statistically significant unemployment rate change. Rhode Island (-1.0 percentage point) was among the 21 states with unemployment rate decreases from August 2016
