R.I. unemployment rate drops again, hits low point of 3.8 percent

Cambridge, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University’s student newspaper will be led by a black woman for the first time in its 145-year history.

The Crimson announced this week that junior Kristine Guillaume was elected president of the paper and will take over Jan. 1.

The 20-year-old Guillaume told The Associated Press she’s honored to be a part of history at Harvard, which she said can feel “like a very white and male-dominated place.”

She added that she hopes her achievement helps other women of color feel that they belong on the Ivy League campus.

The president is the top job at the paper, helping coordinate the news and business operations. It’s elected by the previous year’s staff.

Guillaume, of New York City’s Queens neighborhood, is jointly studying African American studies, and history and literature.

Providence (AP) — Rhode Island’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8 percent in October, reaching its lowest point in nearly 30 years.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said Thursday it’s the lowest rate seen in Rhode Island since May 1989, and the rate has now been lower than 5 percent for two years.

The state Department of Labor and Training says the October rate is onetenth of a percentage point lower than in September, and one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the national rate.

The state’s rate is seven-tenths of a percentage point lower than October 2017.

The data shows the number of Rhode Island-based jobs is up by 500, to 503,100. The job count is up 6,300 from October 2017.