PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Rhode Island no longer has the nation�s highest unemployment rate, after nine consecutive months in that top spot, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Rhode Island no longer has the nation�s highest unemployment rate, after nine consecutive months in that top spot, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Mississippi now holds that dubious distinction, with an 8.0 percent unemployment rate for July after tying with Rhode Island for the top spot in June, at 7.9 percent.

Rhode Island�s July unemployment rate of 7.7 percent now puts the state in third place, tied with Michigan and Nevada. Georgia ranked second, at 7.8 percent.

Rhode Island�s unemployment rate tied with Nevada back in October for the worst in the nation, and then it stood alone at the top for seven months before tying in June with Mississippi for the worst rate.

Last year, on average, Rhode Island had the second-worst unemployment rate in the country, behind Nevada.

Elsewhere in New England, unemployment rates were: Connecticut, 6.6 percent; Maine, 5.5 percent; Massachusetts, 5.6 percent; New Hampshire, 4.4 percent; and Vermont, 3.7 percent.

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at 2.8 percent for July.

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