State Gains 5,700 Jobs in 2006, Unemployment Rate Falls
March 7, 2007 | Print this page | Share This | Email this page
Rhode Island's economy showed stronger than anticipated gains in 2006, according to two reports released recently by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The reports show that the state's unemployment rate dipped from December's 5.1 percent to 4.7 percent in January and that Rhode Island saw a gain of 5,700 private sector jobs.
The January numbers represent the lowest jobless rate in the state since November 2001 and fall only 0.1 percentage point above the national average of 4.6 percent.
Before the survey was released, previous estimates had initially shown only a small gain of 200 jobs. The job gain put Rhode Island's private-sector employment at 431,300 jobs at the end of 2006, up from 414,700 at the end of 2002, representing 83 percent of the governor's goal of 20,000 net new jobs created during the past four years.
The Education and Healthcare sector, along with Financial Services and Professional and Business Services sectors, represented the majority of the growth, with each gaining approximately 2,000 jobs.
