Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 1997
Abstract
The current economic situation in Massachusetts, like the nation, is healthy. Employment, income, and output growth are strong, and inflation is low. Over the last 12 months ending in July 1997, non-agricultural payroll employment (referred to below as “employment”) grew 2.3 percent. At this rate, the peak employment of December 1988 will be surpassed by the end of this winter. The unemployment rate has been hovering at or below 4 percent for several months, a rate not experienced since 1989. Monthly initial unemployment insurance claims averaged 28,500 over the last 12 months, down from an average 31,400 a year earlier, and well below the average of 51,500 during the last year of the recession. Aggregate state real personal income grew 4.6 percent in the past year, and is 11.4 percent over its pre-recession peak in the fourth quarter of 1988. The Massachusetts CEI grew 4.7 percent in the past year, 7.1 percent above its pre-recession peak in April 1988. Consumer prices, as measured by the Boston CPI-U, grew a moderate 3.1 percent in the year ending in July.
Recommended Citation
Clayton-Matthews, Alan, "Economic Currents: The State of the State Economy" (1997). Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series. 13.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/pppa_faculty_pubs/13
Publisher
University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute
Comments
Published in MassBenchmarks, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 4-7: http://www.massbenchmarks.org/publications/issues/vol1i1/3.pdf