Stenhouse: Truth About Rhode Island's Employment Picture

Mike Stenhouse

While last week appeared to bring good news that no longer did Rhode Island suffer from the worst unemployment rate in New England, a broader look at longer-term trends shows a much more ominous tint to the state's true employment picture. 

The conclusions of separate analysis pieces, posted by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity and its Ocean State Current journalism arm, are that the image of an improving Ocean State employment picture is a mere illusion.

Based on January 2015 data, some of the findings show that Rhode Island:

• Continues to see a declining labor force, a negative condition, which is the primary factor in lowering the state's unemployment rate
• Would have an unemployment rate of almost 11%, if the size of its labor force were the same as its pre-recession peak
• Has the nation's second-worst employment recovery, as compared with its pre-recession peak levels
• Severely lags its neighboring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts when it comes to labor force and employment recovery, each of which have surpassed their pre-recession peaks
• Has a current labor force that has shrunk to include about the same number of people as were actually employed in 2007

"Policymakers should not jump to the conclusion that our state's economy and jobs market is moving in a desirable direction," suggested Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center, which for years has been warning against staying on the state's status quo policy path. "Once you look at the entire picture, and as our Center projected years ago, recent legislative actions have not improved the situation and, similarly, we do not believe that the Governor's proposed budget will significantly brighten the outlook. Bold, across the board tax and spending cuts are what we need."