State Economy Continues Contraction
The pace of job loss in Massachusetts quickened during the first quarter as overall economic activity in the state declined at an annualized rate of 4.2 percent, according to the latest MassBenchmarks Bulletin.
The nation's economy contracted at an annual rate of 6.1 percent during the same period.
The Benchmarks Current Economic Index declined by 3.4 percent between February and March and was down 2.8 percent compared to March 2008.
The leading economic index registered a -3 percent score for March and -2.8 percent for the first quarter, indicating that the state economy will decline at a rate of about 3 percent for the next six months.
Alan Clayton-Matthews, a UMass Boston economics professor and co-editor of the bulletin, said employers are still trying to adjust to decreased demand and overstocked inventories. The pace of job loss in the first quarter was quicker than in the fourth quarter of 2008, he explained.
Clayton-Matthews said one piece of good economic news was that employment in education and health services is still growing and grew at an annualized rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter.
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