R.I. unemployment down to 3.9 percent
KINGSTON – Continuing its pattern of what economists consider full employment for the 17th consecutive month, Rhode Island slipped below 4 percent in June, down 0.1 percent from the May listing, Leonard Lardaro, URI economics professor reported. Under Lardaro’s Jobless Improvement Index, Rhode Island achieved a -0.2 level, through a combination of a slightly below average level and a greater than average decline in its rate of unemployment, which bettered the national average by 0.2 percentage points. Connecticut with a -2.4 index; Massachusetts at -1.7 and Vermont at -1.6 ranked among the top 10 indexes in the nation, Lardaro reported. In a note of caution, he added that Rhode Island ended the second quarter in a slower growth mode in both the Jobless Improvement Index and the Current Conditions Index, thus indicating that maintaining full employment would be difficult.
State to produce plan for development of Quonset/Davisville; port found feasible
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island officials agreed to produce a master plan for the development of the Quonset/Davisville land and waterfront. The Quonset Davisville Management Corporation and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation announced their intention after a joint meeting at which they heard a consultant’s recommendation for the property. The consultant proposed a one-year three-step process during which the state would 1) develop its overall principles for development; 2) complete a master plan; 3) produce a plan for implementing the master plan. The joint boards also announced that they had received and examined the study which the state commissioned by another consultant which concluded that a proposed container port at Quonset Point was not only feasible but also showed great potential without causing serious damage to the environment. Governor Lincoln Almond, who spoke for the joint boards said, “We have an extraordinary opportunity to create a new, vibrant commercial center in Rhode Island at Quonset Davisville.”
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Valley Gas asks PUC for rate increase OK
CUMBERLAND — Valley Gas has asked the R.I. Public Utilities Commission to approve a rate increase that would increase the cost of the average heating bills of its customers by about 12 percent, the Providence Journal reported. The company blamed the requested increase on a hike in the cost of gas at its source, an increase of about 325 percent, Valley Gas told the PUC in its petition. Southern Union of Austin, Texas also of Cumberland is along with Providence Energy and Fall River Gas Co., purchasing valley Gas, a subsidiary of Valley Resources.
Textron to make cockpits with European firm
PROVIDENCE–Textron, Inc. announced that it had reached agreement with Valeo SA, the second largest car-parts manufacturer in Europe in the joint production of auto “cockpit modules,” Bloomberg News reported. Textron’s automotive division is the leading maker of automobile instrument panels. The joint operation, which will include technology and engineering, will begin in a new months, Bloomberg reported.
(Compiled from news reports and releases, print and electronic.)
