Economist: RI’s outlook weak, and that may be too optimistic
November 4th, 2011 at 2:30 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
By Ted Nesi
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The expert hired by the state to forecast Rhode Island’s economic future offered a grim outlook on Friday – and then warned them it may be too optimistic.
“The risks of going into a second recession are uncomfortably high” despite “some mild cause for optimism,” Zachary Sears of Moody’s Economy.com told a group of frowning state budget officials as he presented his twice-a-year economic forecast at a Statehouse hearing.
What’s holding back Rhode Island’s job market at this point are ongoing layoffs in the public sector, particularly by cash-strapped local governments, Sears said. Manufacturing has not bounced back as robustly in the state as it has in the Midwest, he said.
Rhode Island’s snail-paced recovery from the Great Recession is frustrating state officials from Gov. Lincoln Chafee on down. Treasurer Gina Raimondo recently described the state’s jobs crisis as “a monumental challenge.”
Tags: budget, economy, fy13 budget, jobs, moody's, state government, unemployment, zachary sears
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
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“The risks of going into a second recession are uncomfortably high” –Really, didn’t know RI was out of the first recession!
RI’s numbers as of Nov. 2001 is 10.5% unemployed=And if they count people that have exhausted their unemployment, I am sure that number would be much higher.
Having a state with over 10% unemployed isn’t a recession? Yeah, they hired a top notch economist for this reporting!