Rhode Island is 40th Best State for Business 2014

J.P. Donlon

J.P. Donlon

Adding to CEOs' negative sentiment, just 18% of Rhode Island residents surveyed ranked their state “the best place to live.” On the positive side, unemployment dropped from 9.3% to 8.7% in March. Rhode Island has had the highest unemployment rate in the country in recent months.

Previous State: Vermont Next State: Maryland

No. 40 Rhode Island

Taxations & Regulations

Workforce Quality

Living Environment

Key Metrics
State GDP 

  • % Growth ’12-’13: 1.4
  • % Growth ’11-’12 v. Nat’l Avg. (2.5%): -1.1

Unemployment

  • Unemployment Rate Dec. 2013 %: 9.1
  • Comparison with Nat’l Rate (6.70%): 2.4

Domestic Migration

  • Domestic Net Migration 2013: -3,922
  • Rank: 34

State Government

  • State Debt per Capita Fiscal Year ’13 ($): 8,471
  • State & Local Gov’t Employees per 10k Residents: 510.8

State-Local Tax Burden

  • Rate (%): 10.9%
  • Compared to Nat’l Avg. (9.9%): 0.99%
Key Companies
  • CVS Caremark
  • Textron
  • Hasbro
  • United Natural Foods
Development Trend Indicator: Negative
High-tax, high-unemployment basket case now must bail out government pensioners.


Based on CEO Survey by ChiefExecutive.net

Sources:
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Bureau of Labor Statistics
NewGeography.com
The Tax Foundation


J.P. Donlon

J.P. Donlon

J.P. Donlon is Editor Emeritus of Chief Executive magazine.

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