Rhode Island Unemployment Rate Dropped to 6.1 Percent; Added 600 Jobs in April

CRANSTON,RI – Both the Retail Trade and Government sectors added 200 jobs in April, while a gain of 100 jobs each was added in the Health Care & Social Assistance and Educational Services sectors.

Offsetting the April gains were job losses reported in eight economic sectors. The Construction sector continues to struggle, shedding 400 jobs from March. April’s loss marks three consecutive months of Construction job lossestotaling 1,200 jobs. Employment in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sector also fell by 400 in April.

The Manufacturing sector lost 300 jobs, the first job loss in this sector over the last six months. A loss of 200 jobswas reported in the Financial Activities, Transportation & Utilities and Wholesale Trade sectors, while a loss of 100jobs was reported in both the Information and Other Services sectors.

Over the year, total nonfarm employment increased by 4,300 as job gains appeared in seven economic sectors,including Accommodation & Food Services (+1,600), Other Services (+1,200) and Professional & Business Services(+1,100). Smaller over-the-year gains were also noted in Manufacturing (+700), Transportation & Utilities (+700), Health Care & Social Assistance (+600) and Educational Services (+300).

Employment in six sectors — Construction (-800), Retail Trade (-300), Wholesale Trade (-300), Arts,
Entertainment & Recreation (-200), Information (-200) and Government (-100) — was down over the
year. Employment in Financial Activities and Mining& Logging remained unchanged since April 2014.

MANUFACTURING: In April 2015, production workers in the Manufacturing sector earned $17.76
per hour, down 21 cents from March 2015 and down 77 cents from April 2014. Manufacturing production employees worked an average of 39.9 hours per week in April, up eight-tenths of an hour over the month but down nine-tenths of an hour from a year ago.

METHODOLOGY: The unemployment figures are based largely on a survey of households in Rhode Island and measure the unemployment status of people who live in the state. Unemployment rates prior to 1976 are not recognized by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as official since the methodology used at that time is not comparable to today’s methods. The establishment of employment figures is derived from a survey of businesses in Rhode Island and measure the number of jobs in the state. Rhode Island labor market information is available at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi. Additional information onprocedures for producing Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates is available on the BLS web site at http://www.bls.gov/sae/cesprocs.htm. BLS will be releasingall states’ April labor force data and job counts on May 27, 2015. DLT is scheduled to release the May 2015 labor forcefigures and job counts on Thursday, June 18, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.

ABOUT DLT: The RI Department of Labor and Training offers employment services, educational services and economic opportunities to both individuals and employers. DLT protects Rhode Island’s workforce by enforcing labor laws, prevailing wage rates and workplace health and safety standards. The department also provides temporary income support to unemployed and temporarily disabled workers. For more information, please call the RI Department of Labor and Training at (401) 462-8000 or visit the web site at www.dlt.ri.gov.

*Refers to the number of new and reopened claims filed by UI beneficiaries and claims filed by those already collecting UI in the week that includes the 12th of the
month.

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