CRANSTON – Employment at Rhode Island businesses fell last month by 100 jobs compared with November, in the second consecutive monthly decline, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said its monthly report released today. The job count had dropped by 300 in November.
In addition, the state’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since February 1996, rising 0.3 percent over November’s level to 5.5 percent.
The national jobless rate also rose 0.3 percent, growing to 5 percent in December.
For the year – from December 2006 to December 2007 – the state gained 3,300 jobs, a 0.7-percent increase.
The state’s largest job losses last month were in professional and business services and the “other services” sectors, which both lost 200 jobs each, according to the DLT. Losses of 100 jobs were recorded in each of the following sectors: manufacturing, transportation and utilities, health care and social assistance, and accommodation and food services.
DLT said the majority of the losses in the professional and business services sector came from reductions in temporary help and landscaping.
Partially offsetting the losses was a gain of 200 jobs in construction. Also experiencing gains were wholesale trade, information, educational services, arts, entertainment and recreation, and government sectors. Each gained 100 jobs.
Year-over-year gains were largest in professional business services (+1,400); construction (+1,000); information (+600); arts, entertainment and recreation(+600); transportation and utilities (+500); and educational services (+500).
The largest year-over-year losses were in manufacturing (-1,400); financial activities (-500); government (-300); and wholesale trade (-200).
The number of unemployed Rhode Island residents increased last month to 1,800 more than in November, or 31,800 jobless Rhode Islanders – the largest number since June 1995.
Meanwhile, the number of state residents with jobs anywhere in the country shrank to 547,800 in December, a decline of 3,200 from the previous month and a year-over-year decline of 1,400.
Manufacturing production workers earned an average hourly wage of $13.98 last month, a decrease of one cent from a month before, but a 59-cent increase from a year ago. Their average work week in December was 39.4 hours, a decrease of 0.2 hours compared with November and a decrease of 0.5 hours from a year ago.
Additional information on the Rhode Island labor market is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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