|
Economy
Greater Boston faces tough new competition from around the nation and the world that is having a powerful impact on the local economy. The recent economic downturn lasted longer and cut more deeply in Massachusetts than it did nationally. From 2001 through 2004, Massachusetts lost 195,000 jobs — almost half in high-tech industries. Despite this job loss, consumer prices in Metro Boston, driven by housing costs, continued to rise faster than the national urban average. Together, these trends contributed to economic pressure on households and out-migration by Massachusetts residents, with the workforce growing only due to foreign immigration. In fact, Massachusetts was the only state in the country with a net population loss in 2004.
Boston’s stable economic base includes hospitals, universities and the nonprofit sector, but the city lost about 25,000 payroll jobs between mid-2002 and mid-2004, including a number of well-paid "back streets" light industrial jobs in Boston’s neighborhoods. Trends in Boston improved in 2004 with the Democratic National Convention, the opening of the new Boston Convention and Exhibit Center in the Seaport District, increased tourism, new commercial development and hotel rooms, and institutional expansion. Visitors to Greater Boston generated a direct economic impact of $4.22 billion and nearly 100,000 jobs in 2003. Patents awarded to Massachusetts inventors rose in Massachusetts by 8.3% between 2002 and 2003, placing it first among leading technology states. But globalization and industry consolidation are resulting in the continuing loss of locally headquartered corporations and jobs and a more intensely competitive environment generally. Income inequality is growing in Boston and throughout the region.
Did you know?
-
Boston, the governmental, cultural and financial capital of Massachusetts, has only 9% of the Commonwealth’s population but generates 16% of its jobs.
-
The cost of living outpacing average earnings in 2004, more than 40% of Boston families had incomes below Self-Sufficiency Standard.
-
Boston’s working population doubles each day as commuters flow into the city.
See Economy Highlights for the sector Context, Key Trends and Findings, Major Accomplishments and Innovation, Remaining Challenges, and Competition.
|
|
|
|
New@Economy
|
|
MassInc, Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal (02/07): Massachusetts "gateway" cities such as Lawrence, Brockton and Springfield hold a lot of promise for the state's future, but these cities must be fully connected to an effort to bring these cities and their residents into the knowledge economy.
Brookings Institution, The Implications of Service Offshoring for Metropolitan Economies (02/07) (pdf): Attempts to quanitfy the potential loss in US Metro jobs to offshoring. Cities in the West and Northeast are most vulnerable, with Lowell likely to suffer the most of any metro in the country, potentially losing 3% to 4% of its jobs to offshoring by 2015.
Center for an Urban Future, A World of Opportunity (02/07) (pdf): Highlights the importance of new immigrants to the vitality of the New York and Los Angeles economies, with a summary on how the same process is happening in Boston.
Harvard University, The Plan for Harvard in Allston (Draft) (01/07) (pdf): Outlines Harvard's vision for Allston, including a 30-year build out of science, academic, cultural and housing facilities.
UNH Carsey Institute, The Declining Young Adult Population in New England (01/07) (pdf): Reports that from 1990 to 2004, the New England states have lost population in the 25 to 34 age group.
DiversityBusiness releases its 2006 list of top Women/Diversity Owned Business, both nationally and by state (12/06).
MassINC, Mass Economy: The Labor Supply and our Economic Future (12/06): The Massachusetts labor force has not expanded since 2000, and is linked to both out-migration and lower participation of men in the labor market.
Pioneer Institute, Building on Pioneer's Agenda for Leadership: 2002-2006, and Beyond (10/06) (pdf): Reports on the implementation of the 2002 Pioneer Institute recommendations for keeping the state competitive, with a special attention to education, the cost of living and doing business, revitalizing "middle" cities, and improving the state's financial solvency.
Pioneer Institute, Measuring Up? The Cost of Doing Business in Massachusetts (pdf) (10/06): Reports that costs of doing business in Massachusetts are higher than four of six competitor states. The high costs are driven primarily by a high cost of living (linked to housing costs) and high land prices.
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, The State of Working Massachusetts 2006: As the Economy Moves Forward, Wages Fall Back (9/06): Reports that employment levels have not recovered to pre-recession numbers and median wages have fallen since 2003.
Ceres, Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection (3/06): an assessment of how 20 of the world's biggest corporate emitters of greenhouse gases are factoring climate change into their business strategies and governance practices.
See Research for more recent reports.
|
|
New England Council, Sustainable Prosperity: An Agenda for New England (6/05): identifies opportunities and challenges facing New England as it competes for jobs, people and prosperity. Comparisons with North Carolina, Atlanta and Washington DC, and analysis of key economic levers: infrastructure and structural costs, education, regional networks and collaboration, “brand,” and demographics and immigration. Press Release.
MassINC, The Changing Face of Massachusetts (6/05): the role of immigrants in the state's economy, including data on population and labor force growth, language skills, educational attainment, employment, citizenship and poverty - the share of immigrants in the Massachusetts workforce has doubled since 1980, reaching 17% in 2004. Executive Summary. Database of immigration data by city and town.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce launches the New Economy Initiative to help minority business growth (04/05).
|
|
 Massachusetts Technology Collaborative releases its 2004
Innovation Economy Index.
|
|
|
|
