BOSTON – Non-farm employment increased more quickly in New England than nationwide over the past year, as increases in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont more than offset a sharp decline in Rhode Island, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said in its latest New England Economic Indicators report.
U.S. employment rose 0.01 percent to 137.64 million while New England payrolls grew 0.24 percent to 7.07 million jobs.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island non-farm payroll employment fell 2.41 percent to 482,200 in June – the latest month for which detailed state labor-market data are available – from 494,100 non-farm jobs in the same month of 2007.
The Ocean State lagged the rest of New England in every major employment sector, Fed analysts found. Manufacturing payrolls in Rhode Island shrank 5.50 percent compared with a year ago, while financial activities jobs fell 5.07 percent. Construction jobs fell 4.07 percent compared with June 2006; professional and business services employment shrank 4.05 percent; trade, transportation and utilities jobs fell 3.25 percent; the leisure and hospitality industry shrank about 1.6 percent; and government employment dipped 0.47 percent. Meanwhile, local education and health services payrolls edged up 0.30 percent.Additional information, including the full New England Economic Indicators report, with state-by-state data on employment, the housing industry and trade, is available from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at www.bos.frb.org.
