MassBenchmarks: The Bay State is on a "moderate growth track"
Both Massachusetts and the nation are on track to experience solid growth for the balance of 2014 and through the first quarter of 2015. Since the state's recovery began in the summer of 2009, employment and economic activity have grown steadily and consumer spending as measured by state sales tax receipts has been strongly positive in recent quarters, driven strongly by the state's innovation economy.
But the serious challenge of long-term unemployment has yet to be surmounted. Growth in the innovation economy continues to be largely concentrated in the dynamic metro Boston region, and the benefits of this growth have yet to be felt in many areas, especially urban communities commonly referred to as the Gateway Cities, where unemployment rates are approaching double-digits.
Notwithstanding these continued regional imbalances, the economic outlook for the state remains positive. But high volatility in the Middle East and Eastern Europe pose geopolitical and economic risk, while the Eurozone economy has yet to fully recover, and the Chinese economy is growing more slowly than in recent history.
Although the Board remains cautiously optimistic about the near-term future of the state economy, the consensus view is that the Massachusetts economy has enough momentum to continue on a moderate growth track for the foreseeable future.
Read the full bulletin, “The Bay State is on a "moderate growth track,"declares MassBenchmarks Editorial Board," (10/9/14)
September 15, 2014
