Another lousy ‘jobs’ report; few signs of life in the RI economy
July 20th, 2012 at 8:49 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Busy day ahead so blogging will be light, but I have to take note of this morning’s gloomy employment report from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked down again – it was 10.9% in June, only the second month it’s been below 11% since June 2009. But every other comparison with that month – when the Great Recession officially ended nationwide – is a picture of stagnation locally.
The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders last month was 60,266, barely changed from the 61,281 unemployed three years earlier. The number of employed Rhode Islanders has fallen to 494,982, down from 503,353 then. Rhode Island’s labor force has shed 9,386 people over that period, falling to 555,248.
The state’s total nonfarm payroll has dropped to 457,100, lower than in June 2009. As the nation added about 3 million jobs over the last three years, Rhode Island actually lost ground.
Rhode Island’s job market peaked in January 2007, which is now five and a half years ago. Without a major economic boom, it’s growing difficult to imagine how the state’s job market will avoid suffering a lost decade.
• Related: Providence one of only two big US metro areas still losing jobs (July 20)
Tags: employment, jobs, unemployment
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
The real number for unemployed in RI would be 20 percent.Try and find one politican in RI that cares about the unemployed.To busy lining their pockets with money and lining friends up with no show state jobs.
Good post downsized. Funny that we haven’t seen any of the usual nitwit Rhode Island cheerleaders telling us what a beautiful state this is and well placed geographically for business etc. etc. blah blah blah. If things don’t change drastically and soon, RI will continue to circle the bowl. That being said however, with this sewer still controlled by the public employee unions and the corrupt GA and the voters here too stupid to want to do anything about it, there is 0% hope anything will change. Lost decade if we’re lucky, gone for good more likely.
blame wall street and the politicians from both parties for this mess in the entire country not just rhode island.
No, no, no. That’s another Rhode Island problem, we blame everybody but ourselves. The country is in a mess, but RI is way worse off than most of the rest of the country and the reasons for that go back many years. The usual Rhode Island class warfare whine and passing the buck to Washington won’t make the grade any more, it will just leave this state circling the bowl forever just like it is today.
Joe,
I’m too shaken by various analyses I’ve done today to let this pass. RI is the 2nd worst for unemployment, but Nevada’s complication is that its labor force has grown more than it could handle. From peak pre-mortgage-bust employment, Rhode Island is THE WORST in the nation for recovering employment. Furthermore, Rhode Island is one of only four states that hasn’t increased employment from April 2010, and of those four, it has slipped the most BY FAR.
It’s time to stop with the excuses. I’m very inclined to shy away from translating my policy analyses into direct political activism, but it’s time for Rhode Islanders (most especially the media) to stop giving public officials a pass on the poor economy. The situation is dire and getting worse and anybody who tries to make excuses ought to be ashamed.
10 years of tax cuts for the rich and we still haven’t seen jobs ? Really? Why…I’m shocked!
I have to give you credit for displaying your public employee stupid out for everybody to see.
Actually, there’s some evidence that those “tax cuts for the rich” were a thin thread of hope in the sea of horrible public policy. Now they’re gone, though.
I’ll agree: It would have been much better to expend that political capital on reducing regulation, mandates, and taxes… loosening the chains on Rhode Islanders so that they could get to work turning the state around.
not one of these morons at the state house have the ability or desire to fix the problems here. you these cicciline cares? thats why i dont vote. never have never will.
Charlie Fogarty still has a job and thats nuts.The high school dropout Ianazzi is getting 90 grand a year to play cards.Privatize all state jobs save taxpayers millions.Have any state workers actually been laid off?
Start with Fish
To Mr.Fish and other believers in tax,spend,redistribute, and “fairness”… Well, other than further distort economic behavior, what evidence is there that this approach works. You really believe power hungry career politicians are better at picking winners and losers? What is a fair tax… We already have steeply “progressive” income tax rates. We already tax certain kinds of income/gains more than once. We already weigh down our society with incredible regulatory burdens and a tax code fit only for accountants,lobbyists, and lawyers. We spend far more on confiscatory redistribution than our society can afford. If nothing else, social welfare of one type or another is growing far faster than our demography and economic underpinnings can keep up. Sorry folks, government… Federal and State is the problem. A lot less of it… in our face,on our backs, and in our pockets … will go a long way toward reversing economic decline. The overall trend is after all, for the most productive components of our population to leave those states which lead in the most dubious categories. Rhode Island remains a sick joke. Why would anyone in the age range 25 to 50 stick it out here. After all, our moral superiors keep hitting us up for more and more promoting their phony and bizarre rendering of “fairness.” What’s fair about close to one in five unemployed,underemployed , and dropping out and this lot looking to more federal and state taxes. To that crowd…. GET STUFFED!
With the state just voting to increase the minimum wage, I find it hard to believe that anyone in power really cares about unemployment.
[...] After five and a half years it’s getting hard to find new things to say about Rhode Island’s dismal job market. Rhode Island’s 10.9% jobless rate in June was second-highest in the country and by far the [...]
[...] Related: Another lousy ‘jobs’ report; few signs of life in the RI economy (July 20) Tags: economics, economy, employment, jobs, underemployment, unemployment, unemployment [...]