43,000 Rhode Islanders File for Benefits in 12 Days, RI Unemployment Spikes

43,000 Rhode Islanders File for Benefits in 12 Days, RI Unemployment Spikes

The numbers are dizzying. On Friday, more than 6,000 Rhode Islanders filed for unemployment or temporary disability insurance.

Friday’s numbers push the total number of filings to more than 43,300 since March 9. The new numbers were released by state officials on Saturday morning. Prior to upheaval, Rhode Island was near-record-low unemployment.

Major employers like Providence's Omni Hotel have closed and Twin River has laid-off much of its workforce.

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The last full month's full employment numbers reported were in January.

Rhode Island lost 200 jobs in the month of January, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, according to the Department of Labor and Training.

This comes after Rhode Island announced the addition of 100 jobs in the month of December.

RI Losses Jobs in January

The Rhode Island January nonfarm job count of 505,500 decreased by 200 from the revised December job count of 505,700. 

According to the Department of Labor, since January of 2019, Rhode Island has added 1,7000 jobs.

The number of employed Rhode Island residents was 538,600, up 1,000 from December.

Since January of 2019, the number of employed Rhode Island residents was up 4,200 from January of 2019.

The Rhode Island labor force totaled 557,500 in January of 2020, up 600 from December of 2019 and up 2,700 from January of 2019.

Low Unemployment in January

The Rhode Island unemployment rate was 3.4% in January of 2020, down one-tenth of a percentage point from December of 2019.

The number of unemployed Rhode Island residents was 18,900, down 400 from December.

Over the year, the number of unemployed residents decreased by 1,600.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6% in January of 2020.