PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s gross domestic product increased at an estimated 7.9% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2021, the second-highest rate in New England, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday.
Largely mirroring national GDP trends, Rhode Island’s GDP expanded at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 35.5% in the third quarter, after contracting for multiple quarters due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. GDP increased at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first quarter, and GDP growth rates in that time ranged from 10.9% in Nevada to 2.9% in the District of Columbia.
The highest first-quarter growth rate in New England occurred in New Hampshire, where GDP was estimated to have grown at an annualized rate of 8.4%.
Other New England state’s annualized GDP growth rates in the first quarter:
- Massachusetts: 7.2%
- Vermont: 6.1%
- Connecticut: 6%
- Maine: 5.2%
