Raimondo Says, “We Did a Pretty Good Job” - Health and Economic Data Say Otherwise
GoLocalProv News Team
Raimondo Says, “We Did a Pretty Good Job” - Health and Economic Data Say Otherwise
“So we did a pretty good job, you know, relative to other places,“ said Raimondo.
She went on to say the state's “experience in terms of containing the virus has been much much better than some of those states around us.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"Also, we have a lot of folks who were in, you know, jobs that don't require a degree past high school and those are the people who are getting the hardest hit and, frankly, those are the industries that are getting the hardest hit. So because our economy was that, looked like that, we got hit harder," said Raimondo.
Economic and health data paint a different picture. In a review of major indices and adjusting for population, Rhode Island has been one of the hardest-hit states in the country. In fact, according to filings for jobs claims, Rhode Island is one of the most adversely impacted states in the country for job loss.
More Than 300,000 Rhode Islanders Have Filed for Benefits
In February, Rhode Island's total workforce was 530,000. According to data released Thursday by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, 303,927 have filed for job benefits since the beginning of March.
226,017 claims have been made for unemployment insurance.
55,356 claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (Gig economy workers).
22,564 claims for temporary disability insurance (these claim recipients are not counted as unemployed.
17% Unemployment and Rising — The April unemployment numbers are in and Rhode Island’s unemployment is now 17% and 15% higher than the U.S. average of 14.7%.
Raimondo said, “We're gonna work until every one of you gets back to work and for some of you that may be in a different job. There are some industries -- retail in particular, service industries -- that are going to go through transition and we are not going to let you get behind. It might take a little while to get you back to work -- it is devastating to have a 17% unemployment and we are gonna stand this economy back up and we are gonna get you back to work.”
Budget Deficit of $900 Million — According to the briefing presented by House Fiscal Adviser Sharon Reynolds Ferland to the House Finance Committee on Wednesday, Rhode Island is facing nearly $900 million budget shortfall in 2020 and 2021. This is the largest deficit in modern state history.
4th Highest Number of Cases in the U.S. Per Capita — Rhode Island ranks 4th in the United States for cases per capita. Rhode Island trails only New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts for the number of cases per one million population.
7th Highest Number of Death Per Capita — Rhode Island only ranks slightly better for deaths per capita. Rhode Island however has moved up in per capita death -- the state now ranks 7th for deaths for one million population.