RI unemployment rate still above nat'l level
Rhode Island's unemployment rate has dropped for the sixth consecutive month to 11.8 percent, but still remains well above the national rate.
The state Department of Labor and Training announced yesterday that the August unemployment rate was down from 11.9 percent in July and at the lowest level in a year.
The U.S. jobless rate in August was 9.6 percent.
The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders dropped in August by 800.
Not all the news was good. The state's labor force declined by 1,700 compared with July, which means people are either leaving the state or have given up looking for work.
The state added the most jobs in the construction and health care sectors, but lost the most in manufacturing and the hospitality industry
