NEW: Bryant U. Forum—Economy Slowly Recovering
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
The CEI combines several key indicators of economic activity into a single statistic that measures the overall economic conditions of the state. Since it is calibrated to grow at the rate of the Real Gross State Product, it can readily be interpreted as the underlying growth rate for the state economy, according to Bryant University economist Edinado Tebaldi.
The first-ever CEI shows that the state economy expanded by 1.4 percent in the final quarter of 2010.
Tebaldi credited most of the economic expansion to regional and national factors as opposed to internal growth in the state economy—noting that Rhode Island-based jobs have been flat or declining. Among the factors adversely affecting the CEI were the state’s struggling housing market and poor performance in the leisure and hospitality sector.
The CEI will be released in a new quarterly newsletter that is a joint venture of Bryant University and the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council.
A number of top state business, economic, and political leaders turned out for the forum today. Speakers discussed the challenges facing the state economy—many of them harping on the uncertain tax climate created by budget deficits and pension liabilities. Keith Stokes, the executive director of the Economic Development Corporation, delivered brief opening remarks, and Governor Lincoln Chafee was scheduled to give the keynote speech.
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