Rhode Island Jobs Added
Posted on July 13, 2010
A new study shows that Rhode Island jobs were added during the month of May.
Online advertised vacancies inched up by 19,600 in June to 4,154,000 following a small decline in May, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Data Series released today. The gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies (supply/demand rate) stood at 3.62 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in May (the last available unemployment data) but is down from 4.73 in October 2009.
“In the last two months, labor demand has been little changed following a strong start for Spring hiring in April,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “Thus far, job demand has been uneven across geographies and occupations, and weakness in the housing market is one factor. While all states have experienced some positive upturn in labor demand, states that were heavily impacted by the housing market downturn, in general, are rebounding more slowly. Also, occupations that are most closely associated with real estateconstruction, architecture and engineering, and legalhave been slower to advertise for additional workers while the labor demand in other occupations such as sales, entertainment, food preparation, and healthcare and personal care have already risen to pre-recession levels.”
REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS
- June job demand strong in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in the Northeast and North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia in the South
In the Northeast region, online advertised vacancies in June were up 50,600, showing strength in several of the large states. Among the large States that have shown gains in recent months, New York was up 23,800 in June to its highest level since March 2008. Pennsylvania gained for the fourth straight month, up 15,000 in June, and reached its highest level since October 2008. New Jersey increased by 11,700 and reached its highest level since March 2008. Massachusetts decreased by a slim 2,000. Among the smaller States, June job demand in New Hampshire was up by 1,700, Rhode Island gained 700, Vermont rose 600, and Connecticut dropped 3,300 while Maine was down 1,200.
In June, labor demand in the West dropped by 51,600, reflecting in large part a decline of 46,800 in California, the most populous State in the region. Arizona and Colorado experienced drops of 5,200 and 2,900 respectively. Washington State gained 2,100. Among the smaller States, Oregon gained 1,100, New Mexico increased by 800, and Nevada inched up 700 while Alaska dropped 1,600 and Hawaii fell 1,300.
The Midwest declined this month by 21,300. Illinois experienced the largest drop in the region (9,800). Missouri was down 6,600, Minnesota fell 6,200, and Michigan declined by 2,200. Wisconsin and Ohio continued to gain momentum and rose 8,400 and 5,500, respectively. Among the States with smaller populations, Indiana decreased 1,800 while North Dakota was up 1,700.
The South rose in June by 49,200, reflecting significant gains by some States and lessening declines in the others. Texas led the way with a gain of 25,800 (most in the country), North Carolina rose 12,200 in June to 110,900, and Virginia rose 10,400 to 178,500. Among the most populous States with declines in June, Georgia and Maryland decreased 2,800 and 4,300, respectively, while Florida remained unchanged. Among the less populous states in the South, advertised vacancies in Oklahoma increased by 1,900 in June while Louisiana decreased by 800 and Kentucky decreased by 200.
The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in May (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) was at 3.62, indicating that there just under 4 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. Nationally there are just over 10 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies. States with some of the lowest rates include North Dakota (1.24), South Dakota (1.51), Alaska (1.53), and Nebraska (1.57), where the Supply/Demand rates reflected the fact that there was just over one unemployed for every online advertised vacancy. Among the States, the highest Supply/Demand rates are in Mississippi (7.63) and Michigan (7.22), where there are over 7 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy. Although still among the highest in the Nation, Michigan‘s S/D rate has improved significantly from the 10.2 in July 2009 when there were just over 10 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy. Other states where there are over 5 unemployed for every advertised vacancy are Kentucky (5.38), Indiana (5.22), and Florida (5.08).
It should be noted that the Supply/Demand rate only provides a measure of relative tightness of the individual state labor markets and does not suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies.
