R.I. is 7th in Kaiser economic-distress study

WASHINGTON – The Ocean State is No. 7 among the most economically distressed states, in a new ranking by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s StateHealthFacts.Org.
The report is based on a study of each state’s home foreclosure rate last month; its change in food-stamp participation, from September 2007 to September 2008; and its increase in joblessness, from November 2007 to November 2008, based on the change in the statewide unemployment rate. (The full “State Economic Distress” report, with additional health, population, poverty and employment data for each state, is available at www.StateHealthFacts.org.)
Nevada had the highest economic stress level, followed by Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Arizona, California, Rhode Island, Oregon, Indiana and No. 10 Maryland, the study found. Massachusetts tied with Tennessee at 20th most-distressed.
Rhode Island was 11th in foreclosures, with a rate last month of one foreclosure completion for each 502 households. It was 21st in food-stamp participation, with a year-over-year increase of 11.5 percent. But it was No. 1 in unemployment growth, with a year-over-year increase of 4.1 percentage points.
The Bay State was No. 28 in foreclosures, with one for every 1,193 households. It was 10th in food-stamp participation, which grew 15.8 percent year over year. And it was 29th in unemployment growth, with a statewide rate that rose 1.6 percentage points compared with a year ago.
Lowest on the scale was West Virginia – No. 50 among states, or 51 when the District of Columbia is included – with the lowest U.S. foreclosure rate, with one completion per 25,817 households; only a 4-percent increase in food-stamp participation; and no year-over-year growth in unemployment.
By comparison, the entire country had one foreclosure completion last month per 488 housing units; September food-stamp participation rose 17.3 percent nationwide; and the November jobless rate rose 2.0 percentage points year over year.
StateHealthFacts.org – a project of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan organization focusing on health care policy research, analysis and communication – provides free data from all 50 states on more than 500 health topics. Additional information is available at www.kff.org, www.KaiserNetwork.org and www.StateHealthFacts.org.