Economy

Massachusetts is creating jobs faster than most other states and leading the nation out of the economic recession.

  • The Massachusetts unemployment rate, at 6.1%, is well below the national average of 8.3%.  Year to date, Massachusetts has added 37,500 jobs. (Source: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development)
  • Over the last three months, the Massachusetts economy grew more than 2.5 times faster than the nation’s growth rate.(Source: MassBenchmarks)
  • The Economist magazine in January ranked the city of Boston the 10th most economically competitive city on the planet. (Source: Economist Intelligence Unit)
  • Suffolk University’s Beacon Hill Institute ranks Massachusetts the number one state in the country for economic competitiveness. (Source: Beacon Hill Institute)
  • Massachusetts ranks first in the Kauffman Foundation’s New Economy Index. (Source: Kauffman Foundation)
  • Our continued success and our record of balanced budgets and fiscal discipline led Standard and Poor's to upgrade our state’s credit ranking to AA+, the highest in our state’s history.  Link

 

The Governor's growth strategy has focused on targeted investments in education, infrastructure and innovation.

Education

  • The Patrick-Murray Administration has supported public K-12 education at the highest levels in the history of the Commonwealth, increasing chapter 70 funding to over $4.1 billion this year, the highest level in our Commonwealth’s history.
  • Massachusetts students rank top three internationally in math and science and lead the nation in math and reading according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
  • Massachusetts was the top scorer in the national Race to the Top competition, receiving $250 million to bolster the Administration’s efforts to increase educator effectiveness, turn around underperforming schools and provide educators with the tools they need to ensure that all students are prepared for success in the classroom and beyond. 
  • Massachusetts was also awarded $50 million dollars for our successful Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge plan to help improve early childhood learning and development outcomes in Massachusetts.

 

Innovation

  • The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has invested over $300 million of state resources to generate more than $900 million in outside investment and thousands of jobs. 
  • Massachusetts is now investing more per capita in energy efficiency – our “first fuel” – than any other state in the US.  This year, Massachusetts was named number one in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's annual state-by-state energy efficiency scorecard.
  • According to the latest report released by MassCEC, the clean energy sector saw 11.3% percent job growth last year, nearly double that of the previous year.
  • 103 cities and towns across the state will receive $23.2 million to fund local renewable power and energy efficiency projects through the Green Communities Grant Program. 
  • Boston is ranked the #1 life sciences cluster in the United States according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Infrastructure

  • In 2011, Massachusetts invested nearly a billion in road and bridge projects to fund 450 projects, including 300 active construction projects and 150 maintenance projects.
  • In 2012, the Patrick Murray Administration invested $200 million in Chapter 90 funds for local road and bridge projects across the state.
  • The state’s Accelerated Bridge Program is an unprecedented 8-year, $3 billion investment in the Commonwealth's bridges, which will dramatically reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges in Massachusetts. Already, the program has reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges by 20%.
  • Through 

    MassWorks Infrastructure Grant program

    , communities across the state have been awarded $61 million to invest in local infrastructure projects and spur economic development.
  • Through the MassBroadband Institute the Patrick-Murray Administration has invested $71.6 million in state and federal funds to leverage public and private resources to expand high-speed Internet to all of the state’s cities and towns.