RI’s Economic and Virus Recovery Are Trailing Rest of U.S.
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Rhode Island is in no man’s land — it is neither defeating the virus nor recovering economically.
Both on the virus front and on economic recovery, Rhode Island ranks near the bottom of state rankings.
One of Rhode Island’s top economists says Rhode Island leaders have done little to improve the state’s economy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“From what I can see, Rhode Island has done painfully little to improve its business climate, opting instead to once again hide behind misleading Unemployment Rate figures as if that were a substitute for reinventing our economy,” said University of Rhode Island economist Len Lardaro.
Some have argued that the choice is economy versus restrictions, but the relationship may be far more complicated.
As all economies are not equal, for states like Rhode Island, which is highly dependent on hospitality and tourism — Rhode Island's near nation-leading number of cases is deterring an economic recovery.
Economy — RI’s Unemployment Rate Is 43% Higher Than a Year Ago
Rhode Island ranks 42nd in the United States for states that have recovered from the pandemic, according to a study released this week by WalletHub.
Now, the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 6%, which is still high but is much lower than the nearly historic high of 14.7% in April 2020.
Rhode Island, however, dramatically trails the rest of the country.
Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (RIDLT) reported Rhode Island’s unemployment rate for March — which did slightly improve over February —trailed the national average by 18%.
In March, RIDLT reported the number of employed Rhode Island residents was 503,400, up 3,800 from February. Last March there were 539,600 employed Rhode Island residents.
“The question to be concerned with now is how long and serious will our transition to the LO [last out] of FILO [first into a recession and last out] be? Returns to ‘normal’ generally take a very long time and where we were pre-pandemic wasn’t all that good, as we were largely stuck at our state’s 2015 level of real GDP,” said Lardaro.
Lardaro has tracked the Rhode Island economy monthly for decades in his Current Condition Index (CCI). The index dropped by a third over January’s score of 25.
“Statistically, February was a horrific month for Rhode Island’s economy. The CCI value fell to 17, as only two of its twelve indicators improved relative to February of last year, and only one of those, Retail Sales, was a cause of optimism,” said Lardaro.
“I am encouraged by Governor McKee’s stating his intention to emphasize small business, and better yet to have the Commerce Corporation adopt more of that emphasis. As Rhode Island is a small business state, this emphasis is very long overdue. Our state’s ability to thrive in the post-pandemic period will be determined to a great extent by whether we are able to cast off our image," said Lardaro.
RI Losing to the Virus
Rhode Island continues to have among the highest number of cases of coronavirus per capita. As of April 17, Rhode Island has the second-highest number of cases per 100,000 residents, according to Covid ActNow. Rhode Island trails only Michigan.
Over the past few months, Governors Gina Raimondo and McKee have rolled back numerous restrictions helping to drive up the number of Covid cases.
In addition, Rhode Island ranks third in the United States for cases per 100,000 residents -- trailing only North Dakota and South Dakota. The Dakotas are two states that over the past year have had few restrictions.
And, Rhode Island ranks fourth in the United States for death per capita following only New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.
Rhode Island is the only state to rank in the top five for cases and deaths per capita.
BELOW MAP RANKS STATES BY WHOSE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ARE BOUNCING BACK TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS THE FASTEST
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