Well, one out of three isn't bad. Yes, Rhode Island is doing better than it has at any time in this recovery. I'm not so sure. The time has come for us to stop comparing our current performance exclusively to what it has been in the past. While employment growth hasn't fluctuated over that wide a range during this recovery, as our past recessions illustrate all too vividly, there is no symmetry when negative growth is considered.
Volatility here is greater in the downward direction.
So, combining positive with negative growth, Rhode Island finds itself with employment growth volatility that far exceeds the national average, using the standard statistical measure for this. Couple this with our sub-par job growth and the historical volatility with respect to negative employment growth and it becomes apparent that Rhode Island can experience a recession before the nation. The cost of doing business here, using conventional measures, is above the national average When the usual cost measures such as wages and electricity costs are considered, then Rhode Island's business costs are about 7-8 percent above the national average. We have made major inroads into controlling Workers' Comp costs. With electricity deregulation, business costs should decline further.