CRANSTON – The state gained 300 payroll jobs last month, in its seventh consecutive month of employment gains, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said in a report released today, and although job growth here has been slow, it has outpaced increases in neighboring states.
Rhode Island had 499,600 non-farm payroll jobs in August – an increase of 6,700 jobs or 1.3 percent from the year-ago total, and the seventh consecutive month of record employment, the DLT said.
“This puts us slightly ahead of our neighbors in terms of work force expansion,” DLT Director Adelita S. Orefice said in a news release. August employment figures for Massachusetts and Connecticut were not yet available. But in July, those states had year-over-year growth rates of 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, Orefice said, while Rhode Island employment grew by 6,600 jobs or 1.3 percent.
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Not all the news was sunny, however, Rhode Island’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly in August, from 5.0 percent in July to 5.1 percent last month, as the national jobless rate held steady at 4.6 percent.
The number of Ocean State residents on unemployment last month was 28,800, a decline of 100 from July and 900 from the tally last August. But the number of Rhode Islanders with jobs also fell compared with July, dropping 3,400 jobs to 542,100, or 5,200 fewer than in August 2006.
“The sectors that I have seen hiring are retail [and] banking, and health care continues to be a very hot industry,” Luke Howarth, regional manager for employment services agency Robert Half International, told Providence Business News in an e-mail interview yesterday.
“The battle for skilled labor is still strong, in particular, for the accounting and finance skill sets,” Howarth added. “Hiring managers need to move quickly on potential candidates that they see as long-term fits within their organizations. Job-seekers are sometimes having three or four offers coming in at the same time.”
The professional and business services sector last month maintained its status as the state’s fastest-growing, adding 500 jobs in Rhode Island – a gain Orefice attributed to hiring at temporary help agencies, janitorial services, advertising, architectural, engineering and remediation services. Since August 2006, the sector has gained 2,700 jobs.
Transportation and utilities added 200 jobs last month, while wholesale trade, educational services health care and social assistance, government, and accommodation and food service added 100 apiece.
Losing ground locally last month were the manufacturing sector and retail trade, paring total payrolls by 300 jobs apiece; financial activities, losing 200 jobs; and construction, 100 jobs. Year-over-year, the largest decline was in manufacturing, down 1,200 jobs since August 2006. Government payrolls are down 300 jobs for the year and wholesale trade, 200.
Meanwhile, those workers who remain in manufacturing were doing slightly better than a year ago. The average production wage last month was $13.94 per hour, an increase of 3 cents from July and 51 cents or 3.7 percent from August 2006.
The average manufacturing work week also grew, with factory workers putting in an average of 39.5 hours per week in August, an increase of 0.9 hours from July and 0.4 hours per week from August 2006, the DLT said.
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.
