(Cranston, RI) -- Rhode Island's unemployment rate for January is four-point-seven percent. That's down two-tenths of a percent from December. It's the first time since May of 2005 that the state's jobless rate has been lower than the national rate, which was four-point-eight percent in January. Over the year, Rhode Island's rate is down seven-tenths of a percent from five-point-four percent in January of 2016.