PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked No. 31 in the nation on Conning Inc.’s October 2017 “Municipal Credit Research – State of the States.” The Ocean State has been steadily improving its ranking, moving up 10 spots from its October 2016 ranking.
The municipal credit research report ranks state’s credit based on 13 economic indicators, including tax revenue growth, state GDP per capita and employment growth, among others. Conning did not provide specific data, but included state rankings for each metric used in determining a state’s raw credit indicator rankings.
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Rhode Island earned a 27.72 “raw score” in which lower ratings are more favorable credit quality. The state ranked highest for employment growth at No. 8 in the nation for its August unemployment rate. Rhode Island ranked lowest at No. 43 for net pension liability per capita.
Rhode Island ranked No. 13 in the nation for both employment growth and one-year home price average change in the nation, each tied for Rhode Island’s second-highest ranking to employment growth.
The Ocean State ranked No. 24 in the nation for GDP per capita, No. 25 for its unemployment rate, and No. 26 for General Fund balance over General Fund expenditures.
The state ranked less well according to economist Arthur Laffer’s competitive environment rankings at No. 36. It was No. 37 for population growth from July 2015 to July 2016, No. 39 for economic debt over personal income, No. 41 for personal income growth and No. 42 for tax revenue growth for the 12 months ended June 30.
Each ranking except for population growth (4 percent) was weighted as 8 percent of the total scoring.
Utah ranked No. 1 with a raw score of 9.48. Illinois ranked last with a raw score of 39.8. Massachusetts ranked No. 25 in the State of the States with a raw score of 24.76.
Conning, a Hartford, Conn., investment management firm that specializes in the insurance industry, used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Legislative Exchange Council, Moody’s Investor Services, State Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, The National Association of State Budget Officers, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
