Job vacancies in Rhode Island declined from 10,949 in spring 2006 to 8,637 last summer, a drop of 21.1 percent. It’s a trend that continues from 2005, when Rhode Island job vacancies numbered 12,114. Economic analysts said the drop in job vacancies indicates a slowdown in the Rhode Island economy.

The figures came from a report issued this month by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, which conducted a survey of about 2,000 employers during eight weeks in July and August.

State officials said part of this year’s decline might come from a discrepancy in the timing of the surveys. The 2006 information was collected in the spring, when more seasonal vacancies are available, as opposed to later in the summer for this year’s numbers. The Department of Labor and Training report said that might account for the difference in the accommodation and food services sector, which reported 1,281 vacancies this year, down 720 from 2,001 last year.

Donna Murray, chief of research and statistics, said the Department of Labor and Training combined two surveys this year, one on employee benefits and the other on job vacancies, which delayed the timing of this year’s survey.

But Murray and DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart said timing probably does not account for the entire drop in the number of job vacancies. There were declines in the number of job vacancies in manufacturing (965 last year to 639 this year), and finance and insurance sectors (584 to 438), which are less dependent on seasonal employment than accommodation and food services. The report said a decline in retail trade vacancies from 1,347 in 2006 to 657 this year could be attributed to multiple factors, including the timing of the survey and a decline in the overall economy.

The median hourly wage for full-time occupations also dropped, from a range of $14 to $15 an hour last year to a range of $12.10 to $13.28 an hour this year. Murray said the drop is probably due to the decline in vacancies for some of the higher-paid job classifications, such as management or finance and insurance.

William B. Sweeney, professor emeritus of economics at Bryant University, said the job vacancy statistics indicate that the Rhode Island economy is not growing as quickly as it should. Sweeney said the state economy is growing at about 2.5 percent annually, compared to a national growth rate of 3.5 to 4 percent a year.

“The figures on the surface indicate the need to grow Rhode Island’s economy much faster. We need to get existing Rhode Island companies to expand, and to lure other companies into the state,” he said. But Sweeney said the state deficit looms as “a long-standing problem” in creating a climate that will bring business to Rhode Island.

Edward M. Mazze, Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration at the University of Rhode Island, also said the job vacancy figures indicated bad news. “Rhode Island is going into its own recession,” he said. Mazze said there is a lack of confidence in the state’s economic future and that, generally speaking, the state’s economy is not creating new jobs.

In another report released this month, the state said the number of Rhode Island jobs dropped by 300 from October to November, reducing the total to 499,300. The unemployment rate rose from 4.9 percent to 5.2 percent.

The Department of Labor and Training’s job vacancy report found that about 40 percent of all job vacancies this summer were in the health-care and social-assistance sector, with 3,416 job vacancies, down slightly from 3,480 last year. There were about 800 openings for registered nurses, the most for any single occupation in the private sector.

Benefit levels for Rhode Island’s job vacancies increased from spring last year to this summer. Nearly 77 percent of prospective jobs offered access to health insurance with at least partial contribution from employers, up from 64 percent in the spring of last year.The percentage was considerably greater for full-time jobs (85 percent) than part-time jobs (62 percent).

The report said more prospective jobs require college degrees (associate’s or higher), 36 percent this year versus 28 percent last year. More employers were also looking for relevant work experience, 59.3 percent this year, up from 51.7 percent last year. R.I. JOB VACANCIES BY INDUSTRY

 SOURCE: R.I. Dept. of Labor and Training Job Vacancy Report, Summer 2007

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL/PAT POTHIER 

asmith@projo.com