Rhode Island news bits

Schilling celebrates RI-funded game – in Massachusetts….Rhode Island worst for job creation….Plus 22,000 workers have gone MIA….But Providence is highly rated as a vacation town

By Will Collette

From the world's most expensive video game

Schilling celebrates premiere of new game….in Massachusetts. There’s gratitude for you. Rhode Island taxpayers gave former Red Sox pitching ace $75 million to develop his first video game. The big day – the day the game goes on the market – arrived Tuesday. And where does Curt Schilling mark the occasion? At a video game store in Bellingham, Massachusetts. 

I guess Rhode Island doesn’t have any video game stores. Or maybe Schilling was in Massachusetts to see if they will pay him $80 million to move his company, 38 Studios, back to Massachusetts. 

Rhode Island – worst for job creation. A new report by the Gallup polling organization rates Rhode Island last in the nation for job creation based on their polling of employer economic confidence. 

North Dakota is ranked as the nation’s #1 job creator. 

It’s actually worse than it seems. Ted Nesi at WPRI reports that the state’s joblessness problem is worsened by 22,000 “missing in action” workers. With them included, the state’s unemployment rate would be 14.2%, not the official 10.8% rate. 

These 22,310 missing workers have dropped off the unemployment rolls and out of the labor force.

This data is different than the state’s official count of the “underemployed” – workers who are only getting part-time work or casual labor. That figure is 18.6%.

Providence has been ranked #12 among the top twenty most affordable city getaways. Providence may be rude and crude, but it’s getting frequent mentions as a travel destination. Most recently, Travel + Leisure magazine ranked Providence as #12 among the Top 20 Best Affordable US Cities Getaways for 2012. Simply looking at affordability, though, may not be the best way to pick a travel destination. 

Ranking #1 and #2 respectively as most affordable vacation spots are Kansas City, MO, and Salt Lake City. I’ve been to both. Wouldn’t pick them for a vacation on a bet. 

Neither would I pick Houston (#6), a truly awful place surrounded by the nation’s largest chemical plants. San Antonio (#5), Memphis (#9) and Philadelphia (#10) all have a few good features, but not enough to make me want to hop on a jet to go there. 

On the other hand, San Juan, Puerto Rico (#4), and New Orleans (#8) are both great cities – and ranking as affordable locations makes them all the more attractive. Anyway, Providence’s #12 ranking is all right.