CRANSTON – Employment at Rhode Island establishments last month resumed its decline, falling to the lowest level in three and a half years, after rising slightly in December, according to a report released this morning by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The number of jobs statewide last month fell to 498,100, 0.3 percent fewer than in December and 1.5 percent fewer than in January 2007, the DLT said.
Compared with December, the state lost 1,700 jobs. The largest employment declines were in construction (-600 jobs), “largely the result of reductions among specialty trade contractors,” and in professional and business services (-500), where “most of the job loss is attributed to declines in administrative and waste services,” the DLT said. Smaller job losses were seen in financial activities (-400); manufacturing (-300); the wholesale trade, transportation and utilities, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors (-200 each); and the mining, retail trade, and other services sectors (-100 each).
Partially offsetting those losses were job gains in education (+500), health care and social assistance (+400) and the information sector (+100 jobs). Employment in both government and the accommodations and food services sector was unchanged.
Compared with January 2007, Ocean State payrolls shrank by 7,200 jobs, the DLT said. Year-over-year losses were largest in manufacturing (-2,500 jobs), construction (-2,300), professional and business services (-2,100) and financial activities (-1,400). Also losing ground over the year were the retail trade (-500), wholesale trade (-400) and transportation and utilities (-300) sectors. Year-over-year gains were seen in educational services (+1,500), health care and social assistance (+700), information (+400) and accommodation and food services (+100).
Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent last month, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the revised December rate of 5.2 percent and an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the year-ago rate of 4.9 percent. The nationwide jobless rate dipped to 4.9 percent in January, a 0.1-percentage-point decline from the month before, though it remained 0.3 percentage points above its year-ago level.
The number of Rhode Islanders who were listed as unemployed and actively seeking work – “based largely on a survey of households in Rhode Island,” the DLT said – rose in January to 32,800, an increase of 2,600 or 8.6 percent compared with December and 4,300 or 15.1 percent compared with the year-ago period.
The state’s resident employment – the number of Rhode Islanders who had jobs anywhere in the country – dipped to 541,800, a decline of 4,600 or 0.8 percent compared with December and 7,900 or 1.4 percent compared with January 2008.
Last month’s average manufacturing wage for Rhode Island production workers was $13.98 per hour, the same as in December but 52 cents an hour more than in January 2007, the DLT said. Manufacturing workers across the state worked an average of 38.7 hours per week in January, 0.7 hours less than in December and 0.6 hours less than a year ago.
Additional information on the Rhode Island labor market is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi.
