CRANSTON – Rhode Island’s economic recovery continued in February, with the monthly unemployment rate dipping three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.9%, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said on Thursday.
Nonfarm payrolls in Rhode Island totaled 490,200 in February, an increase of 3,200 month to month and the highest job level since February 2020, the month prior to the economic shutdown due to the pandemic. These jobs exclude farming and some government, private and nonprofit workers.
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The state’s unemployment rate was 6.1% in February 2021.
The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders decreased in February from the previous month, while the number of employed residents increased. However, the state’s labor force, which includes the employed and unemployed, shrank from January to February by 300.
The national unemployment rate in February was 3.8%, a decrease from 4% in January and from 6.2% in February 2021.
Rhode Island’s jobs report:
The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders – classified as residents actively seeking employment – decreased by 1,700 month to month to 23,300. The latter is a decline of 12,400 from February 2021.
Employed Rhode Islanders totaled 546,200 in February, an increase of 1,300 from January and up by 13,800 year over year.
The state labor force shrunk by 300 individuals in February to 568,800 but the latter is still up 1,500 from February 2021 and 22,200 from April 2020.
The department also said there are 3,200 fewer residents working in the labor force than before the pandemic started.
The state’s manufacturing sector gained 800 jobs in February, erasing the 800 jobs lost in January. Food and accommodations lost 800 jobs. The construction sector added 700 jobs in February, fueled by growth reported in both the specialty trade contractors’ field and residential building construction field.
Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls in Rhode Island by sector in January:
- Health care and social assistance: 79,400, an increase of 500 from January and 1,700 year over year.
- Professional and technical services: 29,200, an increase of 400 from January and 2,200 year over year.
- Government: 63,300, an increase of 200 from January and up 700 year over year.
- Retail trade: 46,500, an increase of 400 month to month and up 200 year over year.
- Accommodation and food services: 48,600, a gain of 1,200 month to month and 8,300 year over year.
- Manufacturing: 40,000, a gain of 800 month to month and 1,800 year over year. Production workers in the sector earned $23.30 per hour in February, a decrease of 17 cents from January but up $2.37 from one year prior.
