CRANSTON – Rhode Island’s seasonally adjusted unemployment in December was 3.5%, one-tenth of a percentage point lower from November, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said Thursday.
The DLT says the number of unemployed Rhode Island residents in December was at 20,100, down 500 from November. That figure is also 5,600 lower compared with the same month a year ago. Also, the number of employed Rhode Island residents was at 554,300 as of December, down 1,800 from the previous month but up 10,400 from 2021, according to the DLT.
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The department also noted that the number of unemployed state residents decreased by 80,200 since April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the number of employed residents is up by 108,200 over the same timeframe.
Overall, the state’s labor force was 574,400 in December, down 2,300 from November but up 4,800 from December 2021, the DLT said. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate in December 2021 was 4.5%, according to the department.
The U.S. unemployment rate for December increased by one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month to 3.6%, the department said.
The state’s total nonfarm jobs in December totaled 497,500, a 100-job drop from November. These jobs exclude farming and some government, private and nonprofit workers.
Also, the DLT said that through December, the state’s economy has recovered 97,800, or 90.5%, of the 108,100 jobs that were lost during the pandemic’s shutdown. The department said six employment sectors – construction, finance and insurance, information, manufacturing, professional and technical services, and wholesale trade – reported more jobs in December than they had in the month prior to the pandemic shutdown.
Other job sectors reported workforce increases in December. The department said the professional and technical services sector gained 800 jobs last month, recouping almost all the 900 jobs the sector lost in November. The administrative and waste services sector gained 500 jobs in December, the DLT said, while the construction sector gained 400 jobs in that month.
The financial activities sector gained 300 jobs, the DLT said. The health care and social assistance, information and management of companies sectors each gained 100 jobs in December, per the department. Employment in the arts, entertainment and recreation, manufacturing, mining and logging, other services and wholesale trade sectors remained unchanged from November, the DLT said.
Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls in Rhode Island by sector in December:
- Health care and social assistance: 80,900, an increase of 100 from November and up 2,600 year over year
- Government: 63,800, a decrease of 600 from November and up 800 year over year
- Accommodation and food services: 47,800, a decrease of 600 from November and a decrease of 400 year over year
- Retail trade: 45,500, a decrease of 100 from November and a decrease of 400 year over year
- Manufacturing: 40,600, unchanged from November and up 600 year over year. Production workers in the sector earned $24.29 per hour in December, an increase of 2 cents from November and an increase of $1.42 from one year prior
- Professional and technical services: 29,900, an increase of 800 from November and an increase of 1,600 year over year
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
