According to a briefing released today by Bryant University’s Center for Global and Regional Economic Studies and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC), the CEI for the first quarter of 2012 increased 1 percent (annualized rate).  Rhode Island’s economy continues to expand at a rate significantly slower than the regional and national average: The U.S. Gross Domestic Product increased at an annualized rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012, and the New England economy expanded during the same quarter at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent.