The Economy

Rhode Island’s gasoline dropped 3 cents this week, the fifth week of declines after five consecutive weeks of increases, according to AAA Southern New England. 10:55 am

This is a tale about a jewelry company still located in Providence. That fact alone might be considered newsworthy to some, but to owners Evelyn and Michael Guarino it’s a story about weathering the most difficult economic time this country has seen since the 1920s. May 19

Everyone wants American-made, says Raymond W. Fogarty, director of the John H. Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University, and that’s a reason to pay attention to what he calls a manufacturing renaissance, despite a widely held sentiment that sector has all but disappeared. May 19

This legislative session, as with those in the recent past, has been consumed by debates about how to improve Rhode Island’s economy and unemployment rate. Discussions of pension reform, budget cuts and the state’s role in aiding municipalities with their own budget woes fill daily headlines. With all this, an important sector of the economy has remained relatively sidelined over the last several months – housing. May 19

New England’s unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged in April, dropping to 6.9 percent compared with 7 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics announced Friday. May 18

Colin P. Kane, head of the I-195 Redevelopment Commission, has turned down Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s offer to head the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. May 18

Oil headed for a third weekly drop in New York after Germany’s finance minister said Europe’s crisis may last another two years and reports added to evidence of a slowdown in China. May 18

Rhode Island’s jobless rate - debated within recent disparaging reports – rose slightly again for April to 11.2 percent, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. May 18

(Updated 5:25 p.m.) Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee has asked developer Colin P. Kane, head of the I-195 Redevelopment Commission, to succeed Keith W. Stokes as head of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, according to Rhode Island Public Radio. May 17

Foreclosure filings in the Providence–New Bedford–Fall River area declined 29 percent in April compared with the same period in 2011, RealtyTrac said Thursday. May 17