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Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Between June 1999 and July 2000, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate six times, for a total increase of 175 basis points. For this and other reasons, the national — and state — ␣economies appear to be growing at a slower rate.

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Massachusetts economy has not fully caught up with the news that labor shortages are constraining growth. Real gross state product (GSP), as proxied by the Massachusetts Current Economic Index, grew at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2000, only moderately below the 5.4 percent pace of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Employment-related measures over the twelve-month period ending in April bear this out. The number of employed Massachusetts residents increased by 1.3 percent, and the number of jobs in the state grew by 2.1 percent, matching the expansion-average annual rate of job growth. Employment …

The Massachusetts Environmental Industry: Facing The Challenges Of Maturity, Betty J. Diener, David Terkla, Erick Cooke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

For most of the past 20 years, the environmental industry has been a very significant one, both in Massachusetts and across the country. Some have placed it alongside the electronics, computer hardware, software, biotechnology, fiber optics, and composite materials industries as part of the high-technology sector that has diversified and strengthened the state’s economy. Nationally, environmental industry employment exceeded that of several major manufacturing industries, including chemicals, paper, and aerospace.

In the late 1990s, however, the momentum of the environmental movement began to wane. A decline in both employment and sales suggests that many of the most pressing environmental concerns …

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Massachusetts economy continued to create new jobs in 1999, despite tight labor markets. While there were only 1.6 percent more jobs in December 1999 than there were a year earlier, this is an impressive performance, considering that the working-age population has been growing by only one-half of one percent per annum for several years, and the unemployment rate averaged just 3.2 percent for the last two years.

Older Workers: An Essential Resource For Massachusetts, Peter B. Doeringer, Andrew Sum, David Terkla, Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Blue Ribbon Commission On Older Workers

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Massachusetts Jobs Council, the Governor’s principal advisory board on workforce development, established the Blue Ribbon Commission on Older Workers in 1997 to analyze the labor market for older workers in the Commonwealth and to recommend policies to improve the economic status of the older labor force. The Commission held numerous hearings, town meetings, and focus groups to solicit the views of older workers, employers, labor organizations, and training professionals, and it reviewed the findings of extensive research on older workers in Massachusetts.

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The economy is slowing, as it continues to be constrained by labor shortages. Inflationary pressures are present in labor and housing markets, and consumer spending is strong. Fed policy may keep inflation from getting out of hand in the short run. In the long run, however, Massachusetts needs to speed up the growth of its skilled labor force. Minorities and low-skilled workers, who until recently had been largely unaffected by the expansion, are now benefiting from tight labor markets.