BOSTON – Regional economic imbalances in Massachusetts are leaving many communities behind, the editorial board of the journal MassBenchmarks observed at its May 20 meeting.
Prosperity in Boston and in certain sectors in the Boston area continues while “Gateway Cities,” such as Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford and Springfield continue to be beleaguered by high unemployment rates.
“It is understandable that in many areas of the Commonwealth the news of economic recovery is greeted with profound skepticism, and the fact that Massachusetts is performing better than the nation as a whole is of little consolation to residents of these communities,” it said.
When comparing the state as a whole to the nation, Massachusetts seems to be enjoying a relatively faster recovery due to its strengths in education, health care, high technology and a more highly educated population. In April, the Bay State’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, well below the national rate of 9.0 percent.
The board was encouraged that the job growth was spread across a number of sectors, particularly in previously hard-hit sector such as manufacturing and construction.
The MassBenchmarks Current Economic Index set the state economy’s growth at a more than 4.0 percent annualized rate in the first quarter and state tax revenue, especially income tax, has consistently been above projections, it said.
Still weighing on the state, however, is the depressed housing market and persistent long-term unemployment in selected sectors and demographic groups.
Overall, “the nation and the state are continuing to recover slowly but surely from one of the most difficult recession in our memory. The crisis of 2008 continues to cast a long shadow on the economy,” it said. “While the immediate crisis has long since passed, recent research strongly suggests it will be years before the global financial system is fully recovered.”
