December Employment: How to Feel About It…?
Rhode Island’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.2%, after spending a couple of months at 10.4%, but at the same time, the Ocean State remains one of only two states above 10%. Moreover, the other one, Nevada, has made up more than a 1-percentage-point gap to reach a tie for last place.
That said, the following chart shows that employment has certainly been on the upswing. (Although, to be honest, the sudden leap continues to look peculiar, given that it suggests the state’s economy is in an historic boom, whatever people’s impressions might be.)
Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…
The charts do not indicate what sort of jobs are on the increase. If they are all “food service”, or “hospitality” jobs, that does not seem encouraging.
My brother fired his full time employees and hired more part time workers. Before we go all moralistic, he had to to as his bottom line could not afford the Obamacare requirements for more than 50 full time workers. Could the downtick be related to more people in part-time jobs?