Briefing: State Labor Market
How is the Massachusetts labor market doing compared to the rest of the country? According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center the picture in the Bay State is “somewhat less bleak” than many other states. The Boston-based independent research and analysis organization, recently released a report handicapping the state and national economic figures.
Just how bad has the recession been?
Confirming what we already understood anecdotally, the policy center found that this has been the most severe recession since the Great Depression. In the last 31 months, the nation has lost a larger percentage of jobs than in any other recession since the Depression. Also, 31 months into the recession, the nation has regained fewer jobs compared to any other recession since 1948.
Have the federal stimulus programs helped?
If nothing else, passage of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been a turning point in the recession. According to the center, during the six months before ARRA funds penetrated the economy, average employment fell by 650,000 jobs per month. In the next six months, however, the number dropped to an average of 370,000 jobs lost per month. During the first half of this year, employment has grown by 147,000 jobs per month.
Where does the Massachusetts economy stand compared to the national economy?
The Massachusetts unemployment rate, at 9 percent, trails the national unemployment rate of 9.6 percent and has for most of the recession. While Massachusetts has lost about 3 percent of the jobs it had before the recession, the entire country has lost about 6 percent. Also, median weekly wages in Massachusetts are the second highest in the country, behind Connecticut.
What’s helped Massachusetts during the recession?
One reason Massachusetts may have fared better during the recession is because of the high level of education many residents have. Massachusetts has the highest proportion of workers with a bachelor’s degree of any state in the country. While the unemployment rate for residents with less than a high school degree is more than 17 percent, residents with a bachelor’s degree have an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent.
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