Some driver jobs in Rhode Island are being cut.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s board of directors recently approved a move to cut 20 drivers’ jobs and reduce service on 47 bus routes. This is expected to save about $900,000 this fiscal year and $2 million next fiscal year. Officials said service reductions will mostly affect routes with low ridership. RIPTA employs 844 workers and maintains two facilities, one in Newport and one in Providence.

According to an article by WPRI, the agency will still have a deficit of about $8 million even after the savings, meaning more job cuts are likely in the near future. However, Board Chairman John Rupp and other officials are optimistic the state will provide enough money to get RIPTA through the end of this fiscal year, which will end June 30, 2009, without further job cuts.

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A well-known insurance provider has cut insurance jobs in Rhode Island.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island recently announced its plan to cut 74 positions throughout the company, 41 through layoffs and the remainder by not filling vacancies. The positions to be cut include everything from management personnel to rank-and-file employees. According to an article by the Providence Business News, the company currently employs about 1,160 workers.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield is the state’s largest health insurer and covers more than 680,000 people. One reason for the cuts may be that healthcare network Care New England has decided to switch its employee healthccare coverage to Tufts Health Plan, a rival of Blue Cross.

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The State of Rhode Island currently has the highest unemployment rate in the country, and the loss of Rhode Island manufacturing jobs is only adding to what some are calling a “blue-collar” recession.

During September 2008, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state had an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent. Total non-farm employment came in at 478,200 workers, down from 479,500 during August and a decrease of 2.6 percent from last year. The manufacturing industry employed 47,400 workers, down from 47,600 during August and a decrease of 6.5 percent from last year.

Job losses in other blue-collar industries, such as office and construction jobs, also are adding to the problem. During September, Rhode Island’s construction industry employed 20,800 workers, down from 21,000 during August and a decrease of 3.3 percent from last year. The state’s professional and business services industry employed 53,800 during September, down from 53,900 during August and a decrease of 2.2 percent from last year.

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