PROVIDENCE, RI – Rhode Island continued to build back its economy during the third quarter of 2021, according to the Rhode Island Key Performance Indicators Quarterly Briefing, published today by the Center for Global and Regional Economic Studies at Bryant University and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC). The data show encouraging trends in key economic indicators and job growth in all but three major industries. This is the debut issue of RIPEC and Bryant’s Quarterly Briefing, which streamlines and visually displays key measures that gauge economic activity in the Ocean State.

“The data are generally positive for Q3, showing that Rhode Island’s economy continued to recover from the pandemic-related economic fallout, and that it outpaced New England and the U.S. in terms of non-farm employment growth,” said RIPEC President and CEO Michael DiBiase. “However, we are still 26,400 jobs below our pre-pandemic baseline, and there is some evidence that we are not recovering at the same pace as the region and nation—our unemployment rate was higher than that of New England and the U.S. for Q3.” 

Rhode Island’s non-farm employment increased by 9,000 jobs compared to Q2, and by 23,000 jobs compared to Q3 2020. The construction, financial services, and professional and business services sectors lost jobs, but every other major sector experienced job gains, with the largest gains in leisure and hospitality (3,700 jobs) and government (2,400 jobs). The unemployment rate in Q3 2021 was 5.6 percent, lower than in the previous quarter (6.1 percent) and Q3 2020 (12.5 percent). Net sales tax receipts, an indicator of demand in the economy, increased 6.5 percent between Q2 and Q3 2021 and 14.5 percent compared to Q3 2020.

The data set used to construct the Briefing is available here.