3,000 More Rhode Islanders Are Employed Now Than Before the Pandemic, Says RIPEC

3,000 More Rhode Islanders Are Employed Now Than Before the Pandemic, Says RIPEC

Rhode Island’s job market has improved, with four major industry sectors having regained all jobs lost during the pandemic, according to the Rhode Island Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Briefing for the second quarter of 2022, released Thursday by the Center for Global and Regional Economic Studies at Bryant University and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC).

 
“While there are now 3,000 more employed Rhode Islanders than there were before the pandemic, we still have 9,300 fewer Rhode Island-based jobs and have recovered jobs lost during the pandemic more slowly than the U.S.,” said RIPEC President and CEO Michael DiBiase. “Despite positive trends in the jobs data, the state’s recovery from the pandemic continues to be uneven,” he added. 

Last week, Governor Dan Mckee praised the June employment numbers. Unemployment fell to a 46-year low of 2.7%.

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“Today’s historic jobs report shows that Rhode Island has economic momentum and we are continuing to build on that momentum every single day,” said Governor McKee. “In addition to a record low unemployment rate, Rhode Island also has one of the best ranked economic recoveries in the nation according to Moody’s. But now is not the time to take our foot off the gas – we must continue to accelerate this momentum, together.”

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate fell to 2.9% in Q2, which was lower than the national and regional unemployment rates, and lower than at any point since Q3 1988. At the same time, the labor force participation rate (63.3%) saw only marginal quarter-over-quarter change and remained below Q2 2021 levels. 

RI has recovered 89.5% of jobs lost during the pandemic, a faster rate than New England (88.1% of jobs regained) but slower than the U.S. (98.5%). In Rhode Island, four major industry sectors have regained all jobs lost during the pandemic: construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, and trade, transportation, and utilities. Only financial services and information services lost jobs in Q2 2022.
 
In Q1 2022, Rhode Island registered a quarterly GDP decline (0.6%) for the first time since Q1 2021. In comparison, New England GDP fell by 0.2% and U.S. GDP declined by 1.6%. Data for Q2 2022 are not yet available. Net sales tax receipts, an indicator of demand in the economy, increased 4.4%(estimate) from Q1 2022 to Q2 2022, following a decline of 0.6% in Q1 2022.