Providence Business News Web editor Lori Stabile notes Rhode Island’s continuing poor performance on the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s Jobs & Opportunity Index (JOI):

Rhode Island’s score fell to 17.5 in October from September’s 17.9 on the index, which ranks states on a scale from 0-100 on factors including job outlook, which measures optimism that adequate work is available; freedom factor, which measures the level of work against reliance on welfare programs; and prosperity factor, which measures the financial motivation of income versus taxes.

Of all the factors, arguably the clearest cut is the prosperity factor, which is literally a ratio of personal income (including investments and rental income) to state, local, and federal taxes.  The data shows that RI’s ratio puts personal income at 2.4 times total taxes collected, which is the fourth-smallest ratio in the country.