Jobs & the Economy

Even though the economy has stopped shrinking and begun to grow, that growth is too slow to fully restore the losses experienced by workers and families in recent years.

Raising the state minimum wage results in higher pay rates for low-wage workers, but how does it affect jobs and the economy? Our analysis of job growth in Massachusetts over almost two decades provides evidence that increases in the minimum wage do not impede job growth.

assessment, The State of Working Massachusetts 2011, shows that while Massachusetts has shared in this hardship, its economy is performing better than the rest of the country. What is more, our commitment to education has, over time, helped to make us one of the highest-income states in the nation.

On September 22, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual update of state-level data on household income from the American Community Survey (ACS). These data show that median household income in Massachusetts fell to $62,072 in 2010. This is a statistically significant decline of $3,182 or 4.9 percent from the 2009 level of $65,254 (adjusted to 2010 dollars). For the U.S. as a whole, the ACS data show median household income stood at $50,046 in 2010, a statistically significant decline of $1,144 or 2.2 percent from the 2009 level. Since 2007 (in the final month of which, the nation officially fell into recession), median household income in Massachusetts dropped an inflation-adjusted $3,307 or 5.1 percent. During the same period, U.S. median household income fell $3,280 or 6.2 percent.

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual update of state-level poverty rates from the American Community Survey (ACS). In contrast to the Census’ Current Population Survey, for which data were released last week, this survey provides more reliable demographic information for individual states. It includes data on the rise in child poverty in the US and in Massachusetts.

New Census Bureau data released today show that the national poverty rate increased for the third year in a row in 2010, rising to 15.1 percent from 14.3 percent in 2009.

After a deep recession that officially began in December of 2007 and ended in June of 2009, the US economy is now in a period of weak and fragile recovery, one that features both slow growth and high levels of unemployment. For many Americans, the current recovery feels little different than the recession itself. This certainly holds true for the many Massachusetts families who have felt the direct effects of this historic downturn – Labor Day 2011 offers little cause for celebration among the Bay State’s thousands of unemployed and underemployed workers. By many measures, however, Massachusetts has fared far better than most other states during the Great Recession and its aftermath. We have experienced lower rates of unemployment, lost a smaller share of our jobs, and maintained higher median wages for many of our workers. This new report, Jobs and The Massachusetts Economy: Labor Day 2011, provides charts and analysis of the most current data for Massachusetts and the US on unemployment rates, job losses, and median wages. The report offers snapshots of how these measures have changed since the start of the Great Recession and over prior decades.

Across the country there has recently been extensive attention focused on issues relating to public employee compensation. This report examines Massachusetts wage and benefits data from the U.S. Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in detail to show and compare the actual wages and benefits for public and private sector workers with the same level of education.

The Massachusetts State Board of Retirement, which administers the Massachusetts State Employees’ Retirement System (MERS), was established in 1911 as the second-oldest public pension system in the country. It began first as a pension plan for the state’s teachers and over time, it grew to include other state public sector employees.