Sunday, September 27, 2009

Flexing Boston's economic muscle

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ranks Boston as the 9th-largest economy in U.S.  It is a testament to what a highly skilled workforce resides here to have so much economic clout.  Boston is tiny when viewed by population - ranking 24th largest.  No surprise, New York City rules followed by 2 Los Angeles, 3 Chicago, 4 Houston and 5 Washington D.C.  This maps to how cities rank by population with the exception of Washington DC, but considering D.C. is the seat of government, the high ranking is no surprise. 

The article ranking Boston's economy in the top 10 was in the Boston Business Journal, and it relates to some good news I read about the local economy in today's issue of The Boston Globe, Massachusetts set to recover sooner than the US.  Globe reporter, Robert Gavin, points to the steady reduction in job losses 3.5% in MA as compared to a 5% loss nationally and a much better housing market.  Previous downturns - most recently in 2001, Massachusetts was impacted far more dramatically losing three times as many jobs as the national average and suffering a prolonged recession followed by an anemic recovery as compared to other regions.

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