CRANSTON – Rhode Island continued to add to its record number of jobs in July, gaining 200 payroll jobs to bring the total to 499,400, according to a report released today by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
“July represents the sixth straight month of job growth in Rhode Island,” Adelita S. Orefice, director of the DLT, said in a statement. “In fact, of the last 12 months, 10 have registered measurable job growth in the Ocean State.”
The number of jobs in the state grew by 6,600 over the last 12 months, a 1.3-percent increase, the DLT said.
The state’s unemployment rate, however, climbed to 5 percent in July, up 0.3 percent from June, the DLT said. The national unemployment rate for July stood at 4.6 percent, up 0.1 percent from the month before.
The number of unemployed residents climbed to 28,900 in July, 1,900 more than in the previous month. At the same time, the number of employed Rhode Islanders fell by 6,600 between June and July to 545,500.
The DLT said the manufacturing sector experienced the biggest gain in July, adding 500 jobs. The financial activities sector added 300 jobs; health care and social assistance added 200; and the information sector added 100.
Sectors that experienced employment losses from June to July were: construction, accommodation and food services (200 jobs); government (200 jobs); wholesale and retail trade (100 jobs); and arts, entertainment and recreation (100 jobs).
Over the previous 12 months, the biggest gains came in professional and business services (2,400 jobs); construction (1,400 jobs); health care and social assistance (1,300 jobs); financial activities (1,100 jobs); and arts, entertainment and recreation (800 jobs).
The manufacturing sector experienced the largest loss over the previous 12 months (1,600 jobs), followed by declines in wholesale trade (300 jobs) and government (300 jobs).
Meanwhile, the average wage for production workers in the state’s manufacturing sector rose to $13.96 per hour in July, up four cents from June and 58 cents from a year ago. But those employees worked an average of 38.4 hours a week, down nearly an hour from last month and half an hour from July 2006.
Additional labor market information is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi.
