Manufacturing jobs in Rhode Island grow

Posted on November 5, 2018

The number of manufacturing jobs in Rhode Island are climbing, according to recent labor statistics.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September 2018 was 3.9 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the August rate of 4.0 percent. Over the year, the unemployment rate is down six-tenths of a percentage point from the September 2017 rate of 4.5 percent.

In September, the number of Rhode Island-based jobs was unchanged from the August revised employment level of 502,100. Overall, Rhode Island’s job count is up 7,000 from September 2017.

The Manufacturing sector added 600 jobs in September, mainly due to job gains reported in the durable goods component. This was the highest over-the-month job gain in Manufacturing since December 2017, when 500 jobs were added to the sector. Through the robust growth in September, Manufacturing employment is up 1,300 from a year ago.

In addition, a gain of 600 jobs was also reported in the Professional & Business Services sector. The Professional & Business Services sector has added 1,100 jobs over the past two months, with 1,000 of them stemming from the Administrative & Waste subsector. Employment in the Professional & Business Services sector is up 2,400 from September 2017.

September job gains were also noted in the Educational Services (+300) and Construction (+200) sectors. Over the year, the number of jobs in the Construction sector is up 900, while the number of jobs in the Educational Services sector is up 600.

The number of jobs in both the Other Services and Mining & Logging sectors held steady from August.

Among the sectors which lost jobs in September, the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sector reported a loss of 400 jobs from August, and a loss of 200 jobs from September 2017.

Coming off a gain of 500 jobs in August, employment in Retail Trade fell by 300 in September. Over the year, Retail Trade employment is down by 500.