Rhode Island Economy
Based on data that I posted back in February, I hypothesized in April that various financial and demographic trends in Rhode Island suggested that working and middle class families were selling their homes and leaving the state. Although the more demographically focused Census data won’t be updated for another month, the IRS has moved its…
Perhaps some wishful thinking is involved, but it has seemed as if the various help wanted sections have seen a slight up-tick in ads. Could be seasonal; could be my imagination. At any rate, viewed from a different direction, the economic news continues to be discouraging: Rhode Island’s recession continues to deepen, as payrolls shrink…
The depressing thing is that the “bright spot” of this finding is that Professor Lardaro’s index doesn’t go back far enough to have captured pre-Reagan economic periods: Economically speaking, Rhode Island is in the midst of the “worst year” in a quarter century, according to a local index released today. After a brief uptick in…
There’s a lesson in empathy available in this: And several thousand other state workers are caught in the middle of a war between leaders of the largest employees union, Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that has put that union’s executive director — and lead negotiator — Dennis Grilli on the…
CNBC rated the business climate of the 50 states. Well, at least we didn’t get worse…. Interestingly, while RI was pretty static in most categories, there were gains in Workforce and Education (almost into the upper 1/3 in each). Here is CNBC’s description of each category, respectively: Many states point with great pride to the…
In the midst of a story about Rhode Island government’s hard financial times, one finds the following nugget: … local officials say they need more. They want state legislators to change the pension rules for municipal employees, requiring them to work longer before they can retire. They are also pushing for the repeal of a…
Without gainsaying my own potential culpability, I have to admit that a recent business-section column by URI business administration professor Edward Mazze left me confused. He asserts five myths of varying persuasiveness, but his explanations don’t consistently jibe. He and I agree on the first myth, which he states as follows: First, without financial incentives…
As some of Justin’s “adventures in town government” have revealed, the town of Tiverton has decided they simply “have to” break the 5% cap on annual property-tax increases because they can’t cut anything. They are not alone, according to Susan Baird at the Providence Business News: Nine cities and towns so far have requested permission…
Continuing grim news about the relative position of Rhode Island’s economy: Rhode Island last month posted the second-highest unemployment rate in the country, after Michigan, according to a report out today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate last month was 7.2 percent; Michigan’s rate was 8.5 percent. Rhode Island’s unemployment…
Interweaving Rhode Island’s institutions of higher education with the business community is certainly a wise intention, although I think John Kostrzewa oversells the centrality of such a move to a recovery of the state’s economy: Sue Lehrman, founding dean of the Providence College School of Business, has been in Rhode Island for less than six…