RI unemployment rate drops to 11.2%

PROVIDENCE AP — Rhode Island’s slow recovery from the economic shutdown prompted by the coronavirus continued last month as the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 11.2 and the economy added nearly 1 ,000 jobs, the state 'epartment of /abor and Training said Thursday.

The -uly unemployment rate was down 1. percentage points from the revised -une rate of 12. .

The rate in -uly 201 was . .

The national unemployment rate was 10.2 in -uly, down from 11.1 the previous month.

:ith the addition of 1 , 00 jobs in -uly, the state has recovered more than half of the ,100 jobs lost in March and April when the economic shutdown meant to control the spread of the virus took effect, the department said.

The accommodation and food services sector accounted for about ,000 of the jobs added -uly as full service and limited-service restaurants steadily continued to add employment to their payrolls, the department said.

The health care and social assistance sector, which includes dentist’s offices, added about 1, 00 jobs in the month.

The arts, entertainment and recreation sector, including fitness centers and golf courses, also added jobs.

'ue to pandemic-related employment declines in March and April, nearly all employment sectors reported year-over-year declines in -uly, the department said.

NEW CASES

There have been 2 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and one new coronavirus-related death in the state, according to the latest data from the state

partment of Health released Thursday.

The number of people in the state’s hospitals as of Tuesday, the latest day for which the information was available, was 84, up slightly from the previous day. (ight of those patients were in intensive care.

There have now been nearly 20,900 confirmed cases and 1,028 C29,'-19-related deaths in the state.

The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in 5hode ,sland decreased in the past two weeks from 97.29 per day on Aug. 5 to 95.14 new cases per day on Wednesday, according to the -ohns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and (ngineering.

The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in 5hode ,sland has risen slightly over the past two weeks from 2.32 on Aug. 5 to 2.37 on Thursday, according to -ohns Hopkins.