“Flee Rhode Island As Soon As Possible,” Reports 24/7 Wall Street
GoLocalProv Business Team
“Flee Rhode Island As Soon As Possible,” Reports 24/7 Wall Street
Rhode Island has taken black eyes from national media in the past, but it was punched in both eyes in the analysis written by Douglas A. McIntyre, the co-founder, chief executive officer, and editor-in-chief of 24/7 Wall St.
“Rhode Island seems like a friendly enough place to live and do business. According to CNBC, that isn’t true. Ranking poorly in the economy category in the cable channel's annual 'America’s Top States for Business,' alongside West Virginia and Alaska, it’s advisable for businesses and residents to consider relocating for better opportunities and quality of life,” writes McIntyre.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The CNBC study considers every state’s economy, which includes the factors of growth, the job market, the stability of state finances, and the housing market. The higher score a state can post is 360. The 10 weakest states do not top 145. Rhode Island’s score is 99, which means it gets an 'F' grade when all the factors in the methodology are taken together,” he continues.
Consistently at the Bottom
According to the latest ranking for “America’s Top States for Business 2023” — Rhode Island, for the second year in a row, ranked #45 in the country.
For the past decade, the Ocean State has ranked in the mid-40s to last. In 2010, CNBC ranked Rhode Island #49 under Governor Lincoln Chafee.
In 2019, Rhode Island dropped from 45th down to 50th under Governor Gina Raimondo.
In January 2013, at a joint news conference, then-President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed and RIPEC Executive Director John Simmons unveiled a report titled “Moving the Needle” that featured a list of recommendations that they feel would help Rhode Island climb its way out of the cellar in national studies and rankings of business.
Ten years later, that has yet to happen.
24/7 Wall Street wrote, “Rhode Island’s job growth is poor, and it is losing population, which is rare among the states. According to recent Census data, its population dropped by .3% between 2021 and 2022. Only six states had worse figures based on percentages.”
Rhode Island’s ranking has been so consistently bad that the legislature once created a task force to improve the ranking.
24/7 Wall Street writes, “Rhode Island’s GDP change was 1.2% in 2022. In Florida, the top state for GDP growth, the figure was 4% higher. Florida also had a job growth rate of 4.0%. Rhode Island’s was up 1.6%. One good piece of news is that Rhode Island has a budget surplus. The bad news is that Pew shows it would only last a month at its ‘current fund balance, the CNBC study shows.”
“While it is less and less likely there will be a recession, there may be an economic slowdown later this year, or early next. Why not be in a state where such an atmosphere would have the least effect? That is not Rhode Island,” 24/7 Wall Street concluded.