PROVIDENCE, RI - Governor Gina M. Raimondo released the following statement today on the January 2018 jobs report:
"Rhode Island has come a long way since 2014 when the state's unemployment rate was the highest in America. Today, it's in line with the national average and there are more jobs in Rhode Island than at nearly any other time. Starting in 2015, we totally revamped our approach to economic development and job training. Our approach is working: We've cut our unemployment rate by one-third and 22 companies have moved here or expanded here, and they're hiring thousands of Rhode Islanders.
"This month's jobs report shows that we've made progress over the last three years. But it also shows that we need to keep going to ensure that every Rhode Islander feels included in our recovery. Rhode Islanders cannot afford to go back to the old way of doing things and we cannot allow ourselves to abandon the innovative and competitive approach we've taken over the last three years." ###