I’m not sure what the right word is to describe today’s press release from the Rhode Island Dept. of Labor and Training (DLT).  Cheeky?  Audacious?  Banal?  It could go any direction.  Take a look (emphasis added):

The RI Department of Labor and Training announced today that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2014 dropped to 9.2 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the revised December 2013 rate and down four-tenths of a percentage point from the January 2013 rate. This is the lowest unemployment rate since November 2008.

Now take a look at the corresponding press release from last April (emphasis added):

The RI Department of Labor and Training announced today that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April 2013 dropped to 8.8 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from the March 2013 rate and 1.8 percentage points from the April 2012 rate. This represents the 10th consecutive over-the-month drop in the state’s unemployment rate, and is the lowest unemployment rate for Rhode Island since October 2008.

If you’re confused about how a 9.2% unemployment rate could in fact be lower than an 8.8% unemployment rate, then you haven’t heard about the big revision that significantly darkened the 2013 employment picture.  You’d think the DLT press office might have hesitated to proclaim a historical low.

Circumspection is especially called for considering that the latest numbers show a 6,500-person drop in employment, since last year, and a 9,700 drop in labor force.  The complacency within our state government and the adviser class that orbits it is unconscionable.