Tagged: unemployment

You think it’s tough finding a job in Rhode Island if you’re an adult, try being someone just starting out.  A new report shows the youth unemployment rate in Rhode Island is nearly twice the adult rate.

The unemployment rate in Rhode Island is 8.8 percent. But for people aged 16 to 24, it’s 17 percent. That, according to the youth advocacy group “Young Invincibles,” which based its conclusions on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate took a healthy drop in April.  But the state is still a long way from restoring all the jobs lost to the recession.

Rhode Island’s April unemployment rate was 8.8 percent. That’s three tenths of one percent lower than in March and the lowest rate in four-and-a-half years.  Charles Fogarty, director of the state Department of Labor and Training, attributes the decline to increased consumer confidence.

The state's unemployment is at a 4 year low. A hearing on a same-sex marriage bill brought out hundreds. These stories and more on the RIPR Morning News Podcast.

Plus the guest on this week's Political Roundtable is the CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Mike Stenhouse.

Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please email us, we'd like to hear from you.  news@ripr.org

As Rhode Island tries to overcome high unemployment, some observers argue that more urgent steps are needed to spark the economy. One of the groups making that argument is a free-market think tank, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity. The center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse, stopped by our studio to talk about a proposal to eliminate the sales tax and other issues.

Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please email us, we'd like to hear from you.  news@ripr.org