Retail jobs in Rhode Island climb

Posted on March 20, 2014

According to labor statistics, retail jobs in Rhode Island have grown slightly.

Retail trade employment changed little in February (-4,000). Among the component industries, a job gain in food and beverage stores (+12,000) was more than offset by declines in electronics and appliance stores (-12,000); sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-9,000); and department stores (-7,000). Over the year, retail trade has added 282,000 jobs.

Overall, employment increased by 175,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed. Employment increased in professional and business services and in wholesale trade but declined in information.

Job growth averaged 189,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In February, job gains occurred in professional and business services and in wholesale trade, while information lost jobs.

Information lost 16,000 jobs in February. Most of the decline occurred in motion picture and sound recording (-14,000); employment in this industry can be volatile from month to month.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and government, changed little over the month.

The average workweek for all employees on payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in February. The manufacturing workweek was unchanged at 40.7 hours, and factory overtime edged down by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours.

The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours. For production workers, the manufacturing workweek has declined by 0.6 hour over the past 3 months.

In February, employment in construction changed little (+15,000). Over the past year, construction has added 152,000 jobs. Within the industry, employment in heavy and civil engineering construction rose by 12,000 in February.

Employment in health care changed little in February (+10,000). This marks the third consecutive month of little employment change in this industry. Offices of physicians added 8,000 jobs in February. Employment in hospitals changed little over the month but is down by 10,000 over the past 3 months.