PROVIDENCE – Job growth helped power the state’s economy in the first quarter of 2024, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council and the Center for Global and Regional Economic Studies at
Bryant University concluded in a report released on Tuesday.
Rhode Island saw both strong job growth and labor force participation, according to the report. Nonfarm jobs increased 5,700, up 1.1%, from the fourth quarter of 2023. This was substantially higher than 0.5% growth in both New England and the U.S., according to RIPEC.
Labor force participation was 64.2%, its highest level since that metric was recorded in 1976 and 63.4% higher year over year.
Although Rhode Island’s unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in the first quarter, its third straight quarterly jump after reaching a historically low level of 2.6% in the second quarter of 2023, it was because of the increase in labor force participation, according to RIPEC.
“The first quarter data are very positive – we have not seen results this strong for some time,” said Michael DiBiase, president and CEO of RIPEC. “We saw growth across several key metrics, including both the number of Rhode Island-based jobs and the number of employed Rhode Islanders.”
Five of the states nine industry sectors saw employment increases in the first quarter of 2024, according to RIPEC.
Professional and business services saw the largest quarterly gain at 3.3%, adding 2,300 jobs, while the education and health services also added 2,300 jobs for a 2.1% quarterly increase.
Four industry sectors, trades, transportation and utilities, information services, financial services and government, saw a combined loss of 700 of jobs last quarter.
Rhode Island’s GDP grew 3.5% from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter, higher than both New England at 3.4% and the U.S. rate of 3.2% GDP data from the first quarter of 2024 is not yet available, according to RIPEC.
Net sales tax receipts, an indicator of aggregate demand, decreased 1.5% quarter over quarter but increased by 3.9% year over year.