For the first time since 2005, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has fallen below the U.S. average, declining by three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.4 percent in February, slightly below the U.S. average of 4.5 percent, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said.
This is the lowest jobless rate the state has seen since March 2001, officials said. The number of unemployed – those actively seeking work and collecting unemployment benefits in the meantime – dropped by 1,400 during the month, to 25,800.
The official job count for the month stood at 495,800, up by 800 from January and up 5,100 from the 490,700 jobs reported in February 2006.
Month over month, Rhode Island added the most jobs in the educational services sector – up by 800, followed by retail trade (up by 300) , financial activities and wholesale trade (200 each), information, professional and business services, and arts and entertainment (100 each).
Employment gains in education reflected the return of student workers and other staff at the state’s private colleges and universities following the winter recess, officials said. The increase in retail trade was influenced in part by the opening of a major store (Wal-Mart just opened a store in Providence that added 350 jobs).
Those gains were partially offset by job losses reported in manufacturing (400), construction (300), construction (300); and transportation and utilities, natural resources and mining, and government (100 each).
Officials attributed the drop in construction jobs to continued cold weather in February. The loss of government jobs had to do with state government employment, they said.
In manufacturing, meanwhile, though total employment declined, those who did have jobs earned slightly more. The average hourly manufacturing wage in February was $13.50, officials said, representing a monthly gain of four cents per hour and an over-the-year gain of 16 cents per hour. Manufacturing employees worked an average of 39.3 hours per week in February, unchanged over the month and up 0.4 of an hour since February 2006.
In related news, the number of employed Rhode Island residents climbed to a new record high level of 553,800 in February, topping a record of 553,300 set the previous month, officials said.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics last week reported that unemployment rates were lower in January than a year earlier in 179 of the 369 metropolitan areas nationwide, higher in 156 and unchanged in 34.
In the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up from December’s 5.0 percent but below January 2006’s 6.3 percent. The area’s civilian labor force (based on place of residence) was 714,900 workers, declining from December’s 717,400 but rising from the year-ago 707,300.
