Workforce

In April, 2,081 Rhode Island workers were laid off, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 11:53 am

President Barack Obama couldn’t get a national version of Georgia’s popular on-the-job-training program for the unemployed through Congress, but local companies and other supporters of the idea hope a similar program will be created in Rhode Island this year. May 19

Swipely CEO Angus Davis was one of many skeptics of Rhode Island’s $75 million loan guarantee to former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios LLC video game startup two years ago. Now he has even more company in the business community urging state leaders not to sink any more money into the embattled Providence firm since it defaulted on part of its public-financing deal. May 19

PROVIDENCE – Mayor Angel Taveras announced last week the city will begin accepting applications for its first fire academy in four years. The move is expected to save millions of dollars in overtime costs. May 19

PROVIDENCE – A bill that could simplify administration of the RI Works program and boost employment numbers in the state has passed the Senate. May 19

New England’s unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged in April, dropping to 6.9 percent compared with 7 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics announced Friday. May 18

Rhode Island’s jobless rate - debated within recent disparaging reports – rose slightly again for April to 11.2 percent, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. May 18

Providence Business News and Best Companies Group announced Monday the 2012 winners of the annual Best Places To Work competition. May 14

The Hotel Viking used to fill its many summer job openings with foreign workers temporarily performing labor through the federal government’s H-2B work-visa program. Now the hotel is using foreign students under a different program, called J-1, and General Manager Mark P. Gervais couldn’t be happier. May 12

Anthony Antosh was recently presented the 2012 Paul W. Crowley Award by the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association. The award is given annually to a Rhode Island citizen who has demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of education in the state. Antosh is a professor of special education and founding director of the Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College. May 12