News out of the University of Massachusetts on the state’s economy demonstrates something most states in the country cannot claim: Growth. Massachusetts’ economy is growing at a higher pace than the national economy at 6.4 percent in the last quarter, and the technology sector, including technology employment, is showing signs of life, according to a Boston Globe article.
Massachusetts has seen 3 straight quarters of economic growth including 4 percent expansion in the first quarter and 6 percent at the end of 2009.
Employment is expanding at a 4.5 percent clip in 2010 which is the highest since 1984, the UMass study contends, with 4 percent rate growth in the second quarter for the private sector.
“Massachusetts has emerged from the recent downturn more quickly than many other parts of the country in large part because its economy is driven more by technology and business investment and less by housing and consumer spending than the nation as whole…Strong global demand for technology products has helped fuel the state’s recovery, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor who analyzes a variety of data to estimate the state’s economic growth for the UMass journal. For example, worldwide semiconductor sales have surged nearly 50 percent over the past year, while shipments of North American semiconductor equipment has tripled, according to industry statistics. Both are key Massachusetts products.“