Gallup poll ranks R.I. dead last for perceived job creation in 2013

RHODE ISLAND SCORED the lowest in a Gallup poll measuring perceived job creation in 2013. In Rhode Island, the index was based on a survey sample of 715 employees, among whom 31 percent reported their employers were hiring and 19 percent reported their employers were letting people go, resulting in a Job Creation Index of 12. / COURTESY GALLUP.COM
RHODE ISLAND SCORED the lowest in a Gallup poll measuring perceived job creation in 2013. In Rhode Island, the index was based on a survey sample of 715 employees, among whom 31 percent reported their employers were hiring and 19 percent reported their employers were letting people go, resulting in a Job Creation Index of 12. / COURTESY GALLUP.COM

PROVIDENCE – In a Gallup ranking of U.S. states by employees’ perception of job creation at their workplaces, Rhode Island ranked last, replacing Maine as the state with the lowest Job Creation Index in 2013.

Gallup’s Job Creation Index is a measure of net hiring, determined by asking full- and part-time U.S. workers, aged 18 and older, whether their employers are hiring new people and expanding the size of their workforce, not changing the size of their workforce, or letting people go and reducing the size of their workforce.

The index score is the difference between the percentage of employees who reported “hiring” and the percentage who reported “letting go.”

In Rhode Island, the index was based on a survey sample of 715 employees, among whom 31 percent reported their employers were hiring and 19 percent reported their employers were letting people go, resulting in a Job Creation Index of 12 – the lowest of any state.

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The 2013 ranking bumped Rhode Island down 11 spots from No. 40 in 2012, when the state registered a 13 on the Gallup Job Creation Index. Between 2012 and 2013, all 11 states that had ranked lower than Rhode Island showed improvement in the index, except Vermont, whose score of 13 remained unchanged.

Rhode Island’s score, conversely, dropped one point from 13 to 12 last year. In 2012, 31 percent of Rhode Island employees said their employers were hiring and 18 percent said they were reducing their workforce.

With the exception of Massachusetts, all the New England states ranked in the bottom 10 in the 2013 Gallup survey, which was published Wednesday.

Vermont’s Job Creation Index came in at 13, while Connecticut’s was 15 and Maine and New Hampshire each had an index of 16. Massachusetts claimed the 17th highest Gallup index score, with a Job Creation Index of 22.

Rhode Island and Connecticut have appeared in the bottom tier every year since 2008, Gallup said.

Nationally, net hiring increased slightly in 2013, with the Job Creation Index averaging 20 during the year, up from 18 in 2012. North Dakota topped the index with a score of 40, the fifth consecutive year that the state ranked first in the survey. Washington, D.C. (30), South Dakota (30), Delaware (29) and Nebraska (29) rounded out the top five.

On the bottom end of the ranking, New Mexico and Vermont tied with the second-lowest score at 13, followed by West Virginia (14), and New York and Connecticut (both 15).

To view the complete report, including state-by-state data, visit www.gallup.com.

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