Rhode Island is making headway growing high tech and advanced industry jobs. The state employs a little more than 40,000 full-time employees in advanced industries. Those are jobs in a wide range of areas, from software development and data crunching, to engineering and marine manufacturing.

All those jobs make up just eight percent of the region’s overall employment, but Rhode Island is growing the sector faster than the national average. In fact the state ranks 17th in annual growth for this sector.

The numbers come from a national report out of the Brookings Institution.

Earlier this year the Institution released a report, commissioned by the Governor, with suggestions for spurring economic growth in the state. 

Reporter John Bender was the general assignment reporter for The Public's Radio for several years. He is now a fill-in host when our regular hosts are out.