Rhode Island green jobs are growing faster than others throughout the state.

The Pew Charitable Trusts recently released The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America, a study that found jobs in Rhode Island’s renewable-energy industry grew at a slightly higher rate than overall jobs from 1998 to 2007. The study found that jobs in the clean-energy sector increased by .7 percent during the 10-year period, compared to .6 percent for all jobs.

Even though the state saw faster growth in the green jobs industry, it was behind the national rate. Throughout the country, green-collar jobs increased by 9.1 percent to 770,000 jobs. Total jobs increased by only 3.7 percent throughout the nation.

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Good news is around the corner for those without a job in Rhode Island.

The maximum amount of money that the State of Rhode Island allows people to collect in unemployment benefits each week is about to increase, according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

It was recently announced that the maximum amount for someone without dependents will increase by $18 per week, or 3.4 percent, from $528 to $546. The maximum amount for someone with five or more dependents will increase by $22 per week, or 3.3 percent, from $660 to $682.

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It could take more than half a decade for Providence jobs to recover to a pre-recession level.

A new report from IHS Global Insight predicts that unemployment in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick area will not return to its pre-recession rate until after 2014. The report also predicts that Rhode Island’s annual rate of job growth will average between .5 percent and 1.1 percent between now and 2014.

Providence is one of 71 metropolitan areas that aren’t expected to return to recent employment peaks until after 2014. Other areas include Cleveland, Detroit and Los Angeles. In comparison, the Boston area is expected to return to its pre-recession employment level by the second quarter of 2014. The analysis is part of a study of 325 of the 363 metropolitan areas throughout the country.

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New Rhode Island engineering jobs, as well as survey and construction jobs, will soon be created with a little help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The State of Rhode Island recently announced that it will receive more than $2.3 million in federal stimulus money for flood protection projects in Cranston and West Warwick. The money will help create jobs, restore habitats and prevent flooding along the Pawtuxet, Pocasset and Meshanticut rivers.

The Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in the state will receive $1.95 million to purchase easements and conduct restoration at four sites and about $400,000 to design, engineer and obtain permits for the projects.

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The state’s green-collar industry could help create several environmental jobs in R.I.

Andrew Dzykewicz, commissioner of the state Office of Energy Resources, recently said that Rhode Island’s wind-power industry could eventually create between 4,000 and 5,000 jobs, according to an article by The Providence Journal.

“There’s a prospect for a substantial number of jobs coming in that industry,” he said in the article.

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