More RI government jobs have been lost than government jobs in any other state.

A recent report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government found that state and local government jobs in Rhode Island decreased by 3.5 percent from June 2008 to June of this year. This is the highest rate of government job loss in the entire country.

Nevada had the second-most cuts, eliminating 2.9 percent of state and local government jobs. Maine saw its government jobs decline by 2.2 percent, while Arizona and South Carolina both saw their government jobs decline 2.1 percent. These were the only states to cut more than 2 percent of public jobs.

(more…)

The goal of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was to create jobs throughout the country. So how has it fared as far as creating jobs in Rhode Island?

Not good, according to an article by The Providence Journal. It seems as though most of the $155 million Rhode Island received has been used to close the state’s budget deficit, not for creating jobs.

Since President Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill in February, the unemployment rate in Rhode Island has continued to increase. During June, the state saw its unemployment rate increase from 11.1 percent to 12.1 percent. It was at 10.5 percent when the stimulus was passed. During that time, more than 9,000 people have lost their jobs, making total jobless numbers reach about 68,456.

(more…)

Those with Rhode Island government jobs in the state’s health department have received special recognition.

The Wellness Council of America recently named the Rhode Island Department of Health as a Gold Well Workplace and one of America’s Healthiest Companies.

One of the factors that earned the DOH its reward was the department’s self-administered health risk appraisal, which is meant to help staff identify their risks, including on-site aerobics, body sculpting, yoga classes, healthy cooking demonstrations and a newsletter posted on its Intranet system.

(more…)

Some Rhode Island government jobs will soon be filled.

The State of Rhode Island recently announced its plan to fill 92 positions with the state government. The Department of Administration currently has 169 vacancies that were created by several retirements this year, according to an article by The Providence Journal.

The state has seen several departments lose staff members, including the Department of Health, which has since complained it can’t perform critical public health functions. The state’s department that analyzes food, drinking water, wastewater and air for toxic environmental contaminants.

(more…)