Rhode Island worker training

Rhode Island jobs could see improvement. The state has been given 77 Comprehensive Worker Training grants for on-the-job training. This training would make employees more valuable to a company, thus minimizing layoffs.

This $2 million grant will aid about 6,700 employees. The grants range from $340 to $50,000 from the Job Development Fund.

“Ensuring that people have the right skills for the available jobs is a critical component in laying a stronger economic foundation for when the nation's economy bounces back,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri.

Improvements in worker productivity, operational efficiency, and workplace innovation is the training goal.

According to Joseph J. MarcAurele, chairmand of the board, “By offering a 50:50 match for training, the Governor’s Workforce Board R.I. is helping Rhode Island businesses invest in their work force today and improve their productivity in the future".

Business include information, finance and insurance, wholesale trade, manufacturing, construction and professional, scientific and business services.

For a complete list of companies affected visit the Governor's Workforce Board website.

Rhode Island Jobs To Be Helped By Stimulus

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri has officially certified that the State will receive funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) - a big step toward helping citizens find jobs in Rhode Island.

“By certifying that Rhode Island will participate in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we are on the path back to economic recovery,” said Governor Carcieri. “I pledge to work with the General Assembly, our congressional delegation, and our cities and towns to identify and agree upon projects quickly, to maximize the federal stimulus dollars available to Rhode Island, and to get our economy moving again.”

The Governor will certify the receipt of federal unemployment insurance funds increasing benefits by an additional $25 per week. Individuals currently collecting unemployment insurance benefits are now eligible to collect an additional $25 each week. Whether individuals are entitled to regular unemployment insurance, Rhode Island Extended Benefits or Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation payments, they will receive an additional $25 in their weekly benefit payments. The week ending February 28 is the first eligible week for the program, and payouts are scheduled to begin on March 2.

“The additional $25 per week in unemployment benefits is a small, but important, first step to helping individuals who have lost their jobs,” said Governor Carcieri.

Existing unemployment insurance customers do not need to apply separately for these benefits, which will be added automatically to their weekly payments. For the week ending February 14, Rhode Island had a total unemployment insurance claim load of approximately 38,500. Of these, approximately 2,400 were new claims.

The Governor is also seeking to move ahead with additional changes in unemployment benefits, allowing the state to maximize the $23.5 million in available stimulus funds.

New Rhode Island jobs. String attached?

Rhode Island jobs on the rise? The state is noted to gain numerous benefits from the signing of the stimulus plan. They will be aided through almost $1.1 billion and an estimated 12,000 jobs. This is a great help for the state which has the highest unemployment rate. However, there is a catch because nothing comes free of the proverbial strings.

The full amount of money is not guaranteed. The Providence Journal reports that if the money doesn't have a designated use by a certain deadline, some being 120 days, then it will be lost. If that would happen, the state would lose about half the money to be redistributed.

State Senator Jack Reed calls on the state leaders to come together. “The burden is on the state. This is going to be a test of both the speed and the wisdom of the state in deploying these resources.”

Throughout Rhode Island numerous projects and jobs could potentially benefit from this money. Construction projects could result in new jobs for people throughout the state. One area that is in need of a portion of the stimulus money is Block Island. If this would happen, jobs could be created for fixing their port docks, local school, and well development.

Other uses for the money in other cities has not yet been decided.

New Jobs in Rhode Island

As a result of the Stimulus Bill that passed last week, Rhode Island jobs are on the verge of drastically increasing. As part of the 3 to 4 millions jobs the bill promises, 13000 will be in Rhode Island.

In December, the unemployment rate rose to 10 percent. This is the highest in 30 years. According to the Providence Journal, 26,600 were unemployed from December 2007 to December 2008. These new jobs could be seen as soon as this coming year through public work, like construction.

Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri is displeased with the president's stimulus plan. According to Forbes, he feels that the plan will not create jobs quickly enough. Also, it doesn't contain enough tax cuts.

The state isn’t waiting for the national government’s help. They are doing what they can to change their economy. "Carcieri formed the panel in May, urging it to recommend a long-term tax strategy “designed to make Rhode Island’s tax structure a competitive advantage in retaining jobs and recruiting businesses."'

On February 4^th, the state’s tax-reform panel proposed a stop to state corporate income tax. In doing so, this would save businesses $82 million, help jump start the economy, and create new jobs.

According to Alfred J. Verrecchia, panel member, “Scrapping the corporate income tax would signal that Rhode Island is an appealing place to do business for companies that are already in the state and others that want to move to the state”.

The panel still needs to complete a final, written report before the proposal can be given to the governor.

With all the efforts being made to bring new jobs to Rhode Island, its citizens maybe have some good to look forward to.

Jobs in Rhode Island Decline

It’s no secret, the national recession has been particularly hard on jobs in Rhode Island. For months now, unemployment has been climbing as employers layoff more and more workers.

Although jobs continued to disappear in November, it was the first month in a quite a while that the jobless rate remained steady. According to Rhode Island’s Department of Labor and Training, the unemployment rate stayed at 9.3 percent for the second month in a row. Currently, the national average is 6.7 percent.

Since the jobless rate remained the same, Rhode Island managed to fair slightly better than Michigan. During October, the two states were tied for having the highest unemployment in the country.

Despite the fact that there no change in the percentage of the population without work, the decline in Rhode Island jobs continued for the 11th consecutive month. Between October and November employers cut approximately 4,000 jobs, which was the worst month-to-month decrease to happen in the state since April of 1991.

Interestingly enough, only 400 residents in the area filed for unemployment benefits. Many experts say this is because those who did lose their jobs were able to find work in Massachusetts or Connecticut, both of which are nearby and have significantly lower jobless rates.

In November area retailers usually bulk up their staffs in hopes of increased sales during the holiday season, but not this year. Instead, employers in this industry did away with approximately 1,400 jobs, according to the most recent statistics.

Another area of employment that lost jobs in Rhode Island was the manufacturing sector, which lost 500. This industry has been struggling for some time now. Altogether construction, business services and accommodation and food services did away with a total of 1,200 jobs. As of now, very few sectors are creating new opportunities.

To make matters worse, Governor Don Carcieri recently announced that he is considering decreasing the amount of state aid given to various cities and towns throughout Rhode Island. This would lead to a significant number of layoffs in the government sector, which would only drive unemployment up even higher.

Many experts say that the state’s jobless rate will get as high as 11 percent before the recession ends.

Wind Project to Create 800 Rhode Island Jobs

A new wind project will create hundreds of Rhode Island jobs.

Deepwater Wind was recently chosen as the developer to construct a wind energy project off the shores of Rhode Island. The project is expected to create 800 new Rhode Island jobs with annual wages of $60 million. The company has pledged a private investment of $1.5 billion to the local economy, according to an article by Market Watch. A wind project also was recently approved in New Jersey.

The project by Deepwater Wind was chosen out of seven proposals. The energy project will result in a facility that can provide 1.3 million megawatt hours per year of renewable energy, which amounts to about 15 percent of all electricity used in the state. The project is expected to cost more than $1 billion to construct, with funds coming from private investors.

The exact location of the project has not yet been decided, and should be determined from the results of a Special Area Management Plan process. Final approval of the project is contingent on regulatory approvals from state and local governments.

"Today marks a major step to bring wind power to Rhode Island and to reach our goal of at least 15 percent of all electricity in the state be renewable energy," Governor Donald L. Carcieri said in the article. "Of the many forms of renewable energy alternatives available, wind is the proven leader. Wind power is clean, green power that is not subject to variations and increases in fuel price. Rhode Island is uniquely positioned to lead the nation with the development of this country's first off shore wind farm.

"This is much more than an energy project," Carcieri continued. "This is about creating a new industry in Rhode Island; an industry that puts Rhode Island at the epicenter of the emerging alternative energy market. Deepwater Wind will help bring new economic activity, jobs and opportunity to Rhode Island. From construction through operation, Deepwater Wind projects will provide high-quality, green collar jobs. Further, Deepwater Wind's jacket foundations are the ideal cost-effective solution for the deeper waters in our region."

Deepwater Wind was established to develop utility-scale offshore wind projects in the northeastern part of the United States. So far, the company's major investors include FirstWind, a developer of on-shore wind projects; D.E. Shaw & Co., a capital investment firm with experience in the energy sector and Ospraie Management, an asset management firm with a focus on alternative energy.

Rhode Island Jobs Fell by 1,200 in August

Because of the loss of many Rhode Island jobs and problems with the real estate market the state’s economy is suffering. In August the portion of the population claiming unemployment benefits rose to 8.5, which is the highest its been in the last 15 years.

This increase represented an additional 4,300 unemployed people in Rhode Island, brining the number of residents without work in August to 48,8000. A year ago this time only 5.1 percent of those who reside in the state were without work.

Between July and August employers cut around 1,200 Rhode Island jobs. This made August the eight consecutive month that the state lost jobs.

According to the state Department of Labor and Training, the industries that shed the most jobs were manufacturing and banking, finance and insurance. In addition to this, employers also did away with 300 business services positions.

Leonard Lardaro, a professor of economics at the University of Rhode Island, told the Associated Press that the state has been in a recession for approximately a year now. He believes that the current turbulence happening on Wall Street will only serve to further aggravate the existing problem and hurt the state even more.

“I feel the national and global economies are slowing, which is going to drag us down further,” said Lardaro.

The job market isn’t the only thing being effected by the economic woes. Due to a lack of funds, Rhode Island is now in the middle of a budget crisis driven, in part, by the fact that the unemployed pay less state income taxes and are unable to spend as much on consumer goods. The second of which means revenue collected from sales tax is also suffering.

Hoping to rectify some of this, lawmakers passed budget cuts in June that resulted in the termination of millions of dollars in spending. Despite this, the budget remained unbalanced, meaning that the state now faces a multimillion-dollar deficit for next year. With less to spend on inventive plans, officials will have less clout to use to pull new major employers to the area.

To Create More Rhode Island Jobs the State Needs to Be More Business Friendly

In order to encourage new companies to any area, local governments must create an environment conducive to business. A variety of things can attract business owners to a particular city. Sometimes its an abundance of highly trained an educated residents; other times it’s laws passed by local officials. Some of the most enticing are tax breaks, low interest loans and property deals.

That being said, Rhode Island was once again ranked 45th in the nation as far as business friendliness goes, according to Forbes magazine’s 33rd annual Best States for Business list. Conditions unfavorable to encouraging new companies to the area may result in fewer new Rhode Island jobs or the loss of existing positions.

As far as growth prospects go, the state was 16th. The decision to give Rhode Island this rank was based on venture-capital investments and business openings. Other factors that were taken into consideration included predicted job growth, personal income and the state’s gross domestic product. Rhode Island was also 20th in the nation for quality of life to be had in the state.

The state’s economic climate received much loser scores. Rhode Island’s GDP was the 30th in the nation. The local labor force was decided to be the 35th in the U.S., based on education, net migration and projected population growth.

The cost of doing business in the area was considered to be some of the worst in the nation. High labor costs, energy expenses and taxes caused the state to be considered 42nd in the nation.

“Business costs are weight the most,” said Kurt Badenhausen in Forbes’ report. “But low costs were not enough to keep Louisiana and West Virgina from being the bottom two in our rankings.” He went on to explain that the company analyzed each state on 32 different points of data in order to compile the six main categories that determined each state’s rank.

In a final category, regulatory climate, Forbes rated the state 49th. This group of criteria included other factors that just legal and regulatory climate. The magazine also took into account transportation, bond ratings and business incentives--or the lack thereof.

Virginia was decided to be the best state for business in the country for the third consecutive year. It was followed by Utah, Washington, North Carolina and Georgia. All of these states are considered midsized, having populations that range from 2.6 million to under 10 million.

“The top five states were all closely bunched together,” wrote Badenhausen. “Georgia is the real story, moving from 15th to fifth place. Georgia finished in the Top 10 in four of the six categories we examined…Just two other state - Virginia and third-tanked Washington - managed this feat.”

The rest of 2008’s Top 10 were as follows: Colorado, Idaho, Florida, Texas and Nebraska.