PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island lands in the lower half of states for its economic outlook, coming in 36th, and even lower for its economic performance, ranking 48th, according to the 10th edition of Rich States, Poor States, released Tuesday by the American Legislative Exchange Council for State Fiscal Reform.
The council is a nonpartisan, conservative-leaning, voluntary membership organization of U.S. state legislators.
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The index, which revealed a pro-growth trend across the country, examined the latest movements in state economic growth. The 2017 economic outlook, a forward-looking measure, was ranked using 15 different variables, ranging from tax rates and regulatory burdens to labor policies.
The Ocean State ranked highest in tax expenditure limits among the 15 different variables, coming in third best. It also ranked seventh highest for its number of full-time public employees per 10,000 of population. But it ranked 50th for its estate/inheritance tax, next to last for its debt service as a share of tax revenue and 46th for its property tax burden per $1,000 of personal income.
As for economic performance, a backward-looking measure, states were rated according to state gross domestic product, absolute domestic migration and nonfarm payroll employment, all of which are influenced by state policy. This ranking looks at states’ individual performance over the past decade based on this data.
Rhode Island ranked 46th in the nation for GDP, 36th for absolute domestic migration and 49th for nonfarm payroll employment, which fell 0.7 percent over the 10-year period.
New Hampshire topped the New England states for economic outlook, ranking 17th. Massachusetts was next at 25th.
But Massachusetts was highest in economic performance at 18th, while New Hampshire came in at No. 35 for performance.
Vermont ranked lowest in New England at 49th for economic outlook, while Connecticut ranked lowest for economic performance at 49th.
Connecticut ranked 46th for economic outlook. Maine was 42nd and 45th in economic outlook and economic performance, respectively, while Vermont was 38th for economic performance.
Nationwide, Utah topped the list for economic outlook, while New York was in last place. In economic performance, Texas was No. 1 on the list and Michigan was last.
Lori Stabile is the PBN Web Editor.
