Michael D. Goodman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chair

Department of Public Policy

UMass Dartmouth

Co-Editor, MassBenchmarks

May 28, 2014

What is going on in the economy and what does it mean for SE Mass?

On the one hand…

Consumer balance sheets are much improved

Massachusetts has finally recovered its peak dot-com bubble era employment levels

And the state economy has grown robustly of late

On the other hand…

In Massachusetts, in 2013, the annual average unemployment rate was:

•15.8 percent for workers under 25 years old.

•20.1 percent for those with less than a high school education.

The rising tide is not lifting all boats

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Current Population Survey

The jobs recovery has been regionally imbalanced

So has the housing recovery…

Source: 2014 Economic Report of the President; Boston Globe

The state population is growing slowly and a large generational shift is well underway

Southeastern Massachusetts is no exception

Source: Population Estimates Program, UMass Donahue Institute