R.I. jobless rate unchanged in June at 8.9%, labor force shrinks

RHODE ISLAND'S JOBLESS rate was unchanged from May to June at 8.9 percent, but dropped 1.7 percentage points year over year. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING
RHODE ISLAND'S JOBLESS rate was unchanged from May to June at 8.9 percent, but dropped 1.7 percentage points year over year. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING

CRANSTON – Rhode Island’s unemployment rate was unchanged in June at 8.9 percent after an increase of 0.1 percentage points in May broke 10 consecutive months of declines, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said Thursday.
While the unemployment rate was unchanged month to month, it fell 1.7 percentage points year over year from June 2012.
The national unemployment also was unchanged in June, remaining at 7.6 percent.
There were 49,500 Rhode Islanders without jobs in June, a decrease of 100 from May and 9,700 fewer than in June of last year.
The 509,000 Rhode Islanders with jobs in June represented a drop of 300 people from last month, but an increase of 8,400 from June 2012.
Along with the number of employed Rhode Islanders, the state’s labor force also shrunk slightly in June to 588,500, down 400 from May and down 1,400 year over year from June 2012.
The 467,200 non-farm jobs based in Rhode Island in June represented a gain of 400 jobs from the revised May employment estimate of 466,800.
According to the DLT report, 1,700 jobs added in the professional and business services servitor aided in the gain, as did the growth of 500 jobs in the educational services sector, which the DLT called “unusual” for June.
Employment in the construction and financial services sectors both grew by 400 from May to June. Small gains also were seen in transportation and warehousing (200 jobs), and health care and social assistance (100 jobs). The government, information, and mining and logging sectors remained unchanged from May to June.
The biggest month-to-month employment drop was seen in the accommodation and food services sector (1,800 jobs). The retail trade sector and “other services” each saw losses of 400 jobs, falling short of the “typical hiring that occurs in June,” said the DLT.
Declines were also reported in the arts entertainment and recreation sector (100 jobs), manufacturing (100 jobs) and wholesale trade (100 jobs).
Year over year, total nonfarm employment increased by 2,000, with job gains in professional and business services (3,500); financial activities (1,600); health care and social assistance (900); arts, entertainment and recreation (500); manufacturing (500); and transportation and warehousing (100).
From June 2012 to June 2013, the state’s non-farm employment fell in the sectors of accommodation and food services (1,700); retail trade (1,100); construction (800); information (500); wholesale trade (300); government (300); and educational services (100) sectors.

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  1. For more accurate data/information on this subject, go to The Federal Bureau Of Labor Statistics,
    at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm NOTE THE ” U6″ LEVEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT………FOURTEEN POINT THREE PER CENT (14.3%) UNEMPLOYMENT……