PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s labor department tis laying off 67 workers, most of whom worked in the state’s unemployment benefits division.
Thirteen part-time workers will be laid off Wednesday. Friday is the last day for the 54 full-time employees.
Department of Labor and Training spokeswoman Laura Hart says many of the positions were always expected to be temporary because they were funded by now-exhausted federal stimulus dollars.
The layoffs are expected to lengthen the average wait time to speak with the unemployment benefits call center, and prompting the state to reduce the call center’s hours of operations.
Rhode Island’s jobless rate for June was 10.9 percent. It was the second highest unemployment rate in the nation.
Workers at the labor department plan to protest the layoffs Wednesday.
