Home Economy Economic Activity Behind seemingly positive employment data is structural weakness that in the next...

STUCK: Uber and Lyft driver Sean DeLong’s professional background in business-operations management doesn’t lend itself to highly technical jobs, but his education and experience over-qualify him for most low-wage jobs, which has made it difficult for him to find a job since being laid off in 2015. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Behind seemingly positive employment data is structural weakness that in the next downturn could again leave R.I. reeling

By Eli Sherman

07/14/2017

STUCK: Uber and Lyft driver Sean DeLong’s professional background in business-operations management doesn’t lend itself to highly technical jobs, but his education and experience over-qualify him for most low-wage jobs, which has made it difficult for him to find a job since being laid off in 2015. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO 

Sean DeLong, 42, has applied for more than 800 jobs in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts since November 2015. On average, he gets about one interview per month. But nothing has stuck yet. “It’s been abysmal,” he said. A Rhode Island College graduate, DeLong was laid off in 2015 and now works driving for Uber

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