R.I. gains 5K jobs over year, highest state total since Aug. 2007

THREE INDUSTRY SECTORS stood out for making year-over-year job gains in July - Accommodation & Food Services, Manufacturing, and Professional & Business Services - gaining 5,200 jobs in the 12-month period, even as the state as a whole added 5,000 jobs. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING
THREE INDUSTRY SECTORS stood out for making year-over-year job gains in July - Accommodation & Food Services, Manufacturing, and Professional & Business Services - gaining 5,200 jobs in the 12-month period, even as the state as a whole added 5,000 jobs. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING

PROVIDENCE – The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for July 2016 in Rhode Island was 5.5 percent, unchanged from June 2016 and four-tenths of a percentage point less than a year earlier, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training reported Thursday.

One thousand three hundred more Rhode Islanders were employed in July 2016 than in June – including those employed in the Ocean State as well as outside the state – for a total of 524,600, which represented an increase of 1,800 from July 2015.

The nonfarm Rhode Island payroll – that is, the number of people employed within the state, no matter where they live – totaled 490,900 in July, an increase of 1,400 jobs from the revised June total. The July measurement was 5,000 jobs greater than a year earlier and marks the highest level since August 2007, when it was 492,000.

There was an increase of 300 unemployed Rhode Island residents, those available for and actively seeking employment, in July 2016 for a total of 30,500, a decline of 2,200 from July 2015. In addition, 10,486 individuals collected unemployment insurance benefits in July 2016, or 33.3 percent of the total unemployed.

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The Rhode Island labor force totaled 555,000 in July 2016, an increase of 1,500 from June but 400 people fewer than a year earlier.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said the addition of 1,400 jobs in July, for a total of 5,000 so far in 2016, is “encouraging.”

She added: “It is good to see Rhode Island moving in the right direction as we put people back to work by supporting local companies with green finance programs, investing in infrastructure, and making Rhode Island a more attractive place to do business.”

The July 2016 unemployment rate for the nation, 4.9 percent, was also unchanged from the month prior, but represented a four-tenths of a percentage point drop from July 2015.

Over the year 2,600 jobs were added in the Professional & Business Services sector through July for a total of 66,100, making it the largest gain reported for any sector of the economy. The DLT credits the boom to the Administrative and Waste Services subsector.

Gaining 1,400 jobs from July 2015 to last month was the Accommodation & Food Services sector, bringing the total to 49,100.

Reaching its highest total since March 2009 was manufacturing, which added 1,200 jobs over the year for a total of 42,600 by the end of July.

All of the other industry sectors saw year-over-year gains or declines of 400 or fewer jobs, except for Wholesale Trade, which saw a drop of 900 jobs over the 12-month period,

Production workers in the state’s Manufacturing sector earned $18.40 per hour in July 2016, an increase of 17 cents from the previous month and 68 cents year-over-year. These employees worked, on average, 38.7 hours per week in July, which is four-tenths of an hour less than they did in June and five-tenths of an hour less than they did in July 2015.

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