CLICK HERE. / " title="RHODE ISLAND'S unemployment rate continued to tick downward last month, dropping a tenth of a percentage point for the second month in a row to 11.8 percent. For a larger version of this image, CLICK HERE. /"/>PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s unemployment rate continued to tick downward last month, dropping a tenth of a percentage point for the second month in a row to 11.8 percent, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said Friday.
The sixth consecutive monthly decline came as the state gained 300 total jobs in August, despite the manufacturing sector recording a seasonally adjusted loss of 1,200 jobs.
Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has fallen nearly a full percentage point since hitting a high of 12.7 percent between December and February.
The U.S. jobless rate, meanwhile, edged upward one tenth of a percentage point to 9.6 percent. Massachusetts’ rate dropped 0.2 percent to 8.8 percent last month.
Rhode Island’s net growth of 300 jobs pushed the state’s non-farm payrolls to 452,000 in August.
Meanwhile, the number of employed state residents decreased by 900 in August to 504,600, the third consecutive monthly decrease. At the same time, the number of unemployed residents – those classified as available for work and actively seeking employment – sank by 800 in August to 67,500.
Those declines cut the state’s labor force to 572,100, down by 1,700 from a month earlier but up 3,800 from a year earlier.
The average weekly claims for unemployment benefits declined to 37,279 in August, down 0.7 percent from July’s average. That figure differs from the total number of unemployed because of eligibility restrictions.
Rhode Island’s largest job gain in August came in the construction sector, which picked up 900 jobs particularly in the specialty trades, the DLT said.
Health care and social assistance added 400 jobs last month, while transportation and utilities, financial activities, and professional business services each added 300 positions. Retail trade picked 200 jobs.
In addition to the job cuts in manufacturing, accommodations and food services lost 400 jobs in August. Losses were also posted in educational services (300) and wholesale trade (200). DLT said the manufacturing job loss was the result of fewer-than-average seasonal factory shutdowns in July, which led to fewer-than-expected workers returning to the manufacturing payroll in August.
Manufacturing-production workers in Rhode Island earned an average hourly wage of $14.76 in August, up four cents from July and up 69 cents from a year earlier.
The state’s average manufacturing work week in January was 38.9 hours, up four-tenths of an hour from July and up 1.6 hours from last year, DLT said.
Additional information is available at www.dlt.ri.gov.
