Gina Raimondo in Forbes Magazine 2016 Candidates

On Jobs: Touts unemployment rate of 4.3%, lowest rate since 2001

The economic facts that matter to most Rhode Islanders, according to Brown, are that the costs of health care, housing, education and child care have gone up, and continue to go up, while wages have "flatlined." "That basic fact means life has gotten harder for people and continues to get harder," Brown said.

Yet, a July 19 press release from Governor Raimondo's office trumpets 2,500 jobs created in June, "another all-time high jobs record," and an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, the lowest unemployment rate since 2001. "This jobs report is another clear sign that our approach to economic development, commitment to job training and support for tourism is working," Raimondo says in a statement.