Here’s The Fastest Growing Local Economy In Rhode Island

Washington County has the fastest growing economy in Rhode Island, according to a new study that looked at GDP growth numbers from 2012 to 2015. The financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St. released its findings for every state Wednesday.

The authors noted that GDP doubled in several counties on the list and more than tripled in one county. In Washington County, GDP grew 12.2 percent from 2012-15 compared to 2.7 percent for the state as a whole. Moreover, four percent of the county is unemployed compared to the statewide rate of 4.5 percent.

In the years following the Great Recession, the U.S. economy has seen a period of “unprecedented growth,” the authors wrote, adding jobs for 100 months straight. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since the 1960s and the country’s GDP has grown in each of the last eight years.

No county performed like Roberts County, Texas, which saw its GDP grow a whopping 220 percent compared to about 13 percent for the state as a whole. Cameron Parish in Louisiana, Harrison County in Ohio, Washington County in Oklahoma, Laurens County in South Carolina, and Doddridge County in West Virginia each saw their GDP increase by at least 100 percent.

On the flip side, Hartford County, Connecticut, performed the worst on the list, growing just 0.2 percent. While that may seem low, the state’s GDP as a whole dropped 0.7 percent.

The authors calculated the change in real GDP using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They used employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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