CRANSTON – Rhode Island’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in November, up two-tenths of a percentage point from October, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said on Thursday.
The number of unemployed Rhode Island residents in November was 20,600, an increase of 1,100 from October. However, that number is down 6,100 compared with the same month a year ago. At the same time, the number of employed Rhode Island residents also decreased to 556,100, down 2,000 from the previous month but up 12,500 from 2021.
The DLT noted that the number of unemployed R.I. residents is down 79,700 since April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the number of employed Rhode Island residents is up 110,000 from the same period.
In total, the labor force in the state was 576,700 in November, down 900 from the previous month and up 6,400 from November 2021. The state’s unemployment rate was 4.7% in November 2021, compared with 3.6% last month.
The national unemployment rate was 3.7% for November, level with the previous month, according to the DLT.
Rhode Island’s nonfarm jobs totaled 498,100 in November, an increase of 1,100 from October. These jobs exclude farming and some government, private and nonprofit workers.
The DLT noted through November this year, the state’s economy has recovered 98,400, or 9.1%, of the jobs lost during the pandemic shutdown. Seven employment sectors –construction, finance and insurance, information, manufacturing, professional and technical services, transportation and utilities and wholesale trades – have reported more jobs in November 2022 than they had in the month prior to the pandemic shutdown.
Several sectors reported November job increases. The construction sector added 800 jobs, led by gains reported in specialty trade contractors. Health care and social assistance, manufacturing and wholesale trade, each added 400 jobs. Arts, entertainment and recreation added 300 jobs, followed by a gain of 200 jobs in both the financial activities and government sectors. Both the administrative, waste services and information sectors each added 100 jobs.
The professional and technical services sector saw its first monthly decrease since August, losing 1,100 jobs in November. The accommodation and food services sector lost 300 jobs in the last month, marking three consecutive months of declines, totaling 2,400 jobs.
Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls in Rhode Island by sector in November:
- Health care and social assistance: 81,300, an increase of 400 from October and up 3,600 year over year.
- Government: 64,200, an increase of 200 from October and 100 year over year.
- Accommodation and food services: 48,300, a decrease of 300 from October and up 300 year over year.
- Retail trade: 45,700, down 200 from October and level year over year
- Manufacturing: 40,500, an increase of 400 from October and 800 year over year. Production workers in the sector earned $24.46 per hour in November, an increase of 4 cents from September and an increase of $1.07 from one year prior.
- Professional and technical services: 28,900, a decrease of 1,100 from October and an increase of 500 year over year.
