R.I. unemployment rate drops to 5.3% in April

RHODE ISLAND'S UNEMPLOYMENT rate fell to 5.3 percent in April; a year ago, it was 6.3 percent, and in March, it was 5.4 percent, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING
RHODE ISLAND'S UNEMPLOYMENT rate fell to 5.3 percent in April; a year ago, it was 6.3 percent, and in March, it was 5.4 percent, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING

PROVIDENCE – The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 1 percentage point year over year in April to 5.3 percent, a level not seen since August 2007, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training announced in its monthly report Thursday afternoon.

The state’s unemployment rate was slightly higher than the national average of 5 percent, which itself fell four-tenths of a percentage point from April 2015.

Last month saw a dip in unemployed Rhode Islanders, as the total decreased from 29,900 in March to 29,600 last month. The year-over-year number also decreased by 5,200.

April 2016 marked the highest employment level since August 2008 at 523,300 Rhode Islanders. This was an increase of 500 from March 2016’s 522,800 and 2,000 in the year-over-year comparison. The state’s labor force remained unchanged from March at 552,800, but fell by 3,200 from April 2015.

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Nonfarm payroll employment in Rhode Island fell by 1,500 jobs to 489,100 in April from a month earlier. Since January, however, 600 jobs have been added to the local economy, and for the 12 months through April, the state had gained 5,100 jobs.

Individual sectors saw month-to-month and year-over-year fluctuations in job numbers. In the professional and business service sector, the category that saw a 2,000-person gain in jobs from April 2015 to April 2016 (tied for the most among the 15 groupings reported by the DLT), the number of people working fell by 1,200 from March to April, bringing the total to 65,200. Calling it a “steep loss,” the DLT said the number still represents an increase of 900 jobs for that sector since the start of 2016.

Accommodation and food services also saw an increase of 2,000 year over year to 49,000, as well as a 300-job gain from March to April.

The construction sector saw a 700-job loss from March to April, but at 17,900 it was still 1,200 jobs ahead of employment in April 2015. It was the second consecutive month that the sector experienced a job loss, for a two-month total of 900 jobs lost.

Other sectors seeing job gains over the year were: manufacturing (+1,000 to 42,200); other services (+400 to 23,400); retail trade (+200 to 48,000); arts, entertainment and recreation (+100 to 9,200), financial activities (+100 to 33,000), and transportation and utilities (+100 to 11,400).

The job group with the largest decline in jobs over the year was educational services, which saw 1,000 fewer jobs in April than 12 months before. The decline was 300 from March to April, bringing the total to 23,900.

Other sectors seeing declines were: wholesale trade (-600 to 16,400); government (-300 to 60,200); and health care and social assistance (-100 to 80,500). All other categories showed no change.

Production workers in the manufacturing sector earned $18.27 per hour last month, an increase of 12 cents from March 2016 and 53 cents from the prior year. On average manufacturing employees worked 38.5 hours per week, three-tenths of an hour more than in March but one and three-tenths of an hour less than in April 2015.

Unemployment insurance was collected by 11,974 people in April 2016, a decrease from 12,898 last year, and, according to the DLT, accounted for 45.1 percent of the state’s unemployed.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo released a statement following the jobs report saying that the report “reflects both the progress our state has made and the lingering challenges we have to confront.”

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