Statewatch: Rhode Island: Little Rhody in the red

"America’s smallest state has mammoth economic problemsTHE mansions of Newport, one of Rhode Island’s most popular tourist attractions, were once the mere summer “cottages” of the industrialists of the Gilded Age. Marble House, playhouse of the Vanderbilts, is said to have cost $11m, $7m of which was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Today almost no homes, opulent or otherwise, are being built in Rhode Island. Only 16 permits for single-family dwellings were issued in February in the whole state. In March 633 homes were in foreclosure. The job front looks even worse. Last September Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rate in the country, exceeding even Michigan. In March the rate was the sixth-highest in the country, 10.5%, compared with 8.5% nationally. ..." (2009-4-30)

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