I can’t remember having seen the state’s monthly employment report making excuses like this, although I’m not sure “excuse” is the appropriate term:

Rhode Island implemented a three-week “pause” from Nov. 30 through Dec. 20, intended to reduce the community spread of COVID-19. These temporary restrictions led to a decrease of 6,300 jobs in December. The state’s revised November total nonfarm job count of 468,200 fell to 461,900 in December.

The number of jobs in the Accommodation & Food Sector fell by 3,300 in December, as restaurant capacity was limited to 33 percent of its total capacity. In addition, the two state casinos were closed during the three-week pause, resulting in hundreds of job losses.

Government employment dropped by 1,300 in December with most of those losses stemming from state and local government educational services.

We can hope most of these jobs are coming back as we speak, but it’s unlikely that all of them are.  The effects of the state’s COVID response is going to be massive and long-term.