PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ The unemployment rate in Rhode Island in April dropped to 6.1 percent, the lowest rate in more than seven years.

The state Department of Labor and Training said Thursday that the rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point since March and two percentage points since April 2014.

The number of jobs increased by 600 to 481,400 compared with the March estimate. The labor force stood at 553,800, an increase of 1,900 from March.

The unemployment rate has not been this low in Rhode Island since December 2007.

The national unemployment rate in April was 5.4 percent. Rhode Island has had one of the worst unemployment rates nationwide.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo says the improving rate is encouraging, but people are still struggling and the state needs to create more jobs.