Unemployment in New England held steady at 8.2 percent in January while the national rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 9 percent over the month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The area’s jobless rate saw almost no change between January 2010 and January 2011.
New Hampshire and Vermont had the nation’s fourth- and fifth-lowest unemployment rates in January, at 5.6 and 5.7 percent, respectively. The Rhode Island rate was 11.3 percent, the highest in New England and the fourth-highest in the nation.
Massachusetts’ rate was 8.3 percent.
