PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s unemployment rate stopped rising for the first time in nearly three years this winter, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said Friday in a relatively positive jobs report.
The state’s jobless rate was 12.7 percent in February, unchanged from January and December, the government reported. It was the first time the rate had held steady for more than a month since April 2007, when it was 4.9 percent, though data revisions could change the figure eventually.
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The U.S. unemployment rate also held steady in February at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said earlier this month. Massachusetts’ jobless rate in February was unchanged, too, at 9.5 percent.
The number of unemployed Rhode Island residents – those actively seeking work – fell by 100 in February compared with the month before to 73,200. Though the change was tiny, it was the first month-over-month decrease in the number of unemployed since February 2007.
Rhode Island added 400 jobs in February, the second consecutive monthly increase. And the number of employed residents also grew for a second month to 505,000, up by 1,600 from January though down 2,500 from a year earlier.
The Ocean State’s resident employment – the number of Rhode Islanders who hold jobs anywhere in the country – totaled 505,000 in February, down 2,500 from a year earlier.
Rhode Island has lost 42,900 non-farm payroll jobs – or 8.6 percent of the starting total – since employment in the state peaked at 496,500 in January 2007. The number totaled 453,600 in February.
Average weekly claims for unemployment benefits inched up to 46,404 in February, an increase of 0.7 percent – or 321 – from January’s average. That figure differs from the total number of unemployed because of eligibility restrictions.
For the second month in a row, Rhode Island’s accommodation and food services sector added the most jobs last month, with full-service and quick-service restaurants creating 800 positions.
The retail sector added 500 jobs in February – partly because limited holiday hiring late last year resulted in fewer post-Christmas layoffs, DLT said.
Gains were also reported in arts, entertainment and recreation (300); transportation and utilities (200); health care and social assistance (100); and “other services” (100).
Job losses, by contrast, were concentrated in the education and professional services sectors.
Education services cut 700 jobs in February as colleges hired fewer student workers at the start of the new semester. Employment in professional and business services fell by 600, with cuts reported at landscaping, temporary help, janitorial and waste collection companies.
Smaller February losses of 100 jobs each were reported in wholesale trade; information; and natural resources and mining. Employment was unchanged in construction; manufacturing; financial services; and government.
Manufacturing production workers in Rhode Island earned an average hourly wage of $14.40 in February, up 9 cents from January and up 31 cents from a year earlier.
The state’s average manufacturing work week in January was 37.2 hours, down eight-tenths of an hour from January but up two-tenths of an hour from a year ago, DLT said.
Additional information is available at dlt.ri.gov.
