State of Working Massachusetts 2011

The 2007 Recession and Its Aftermath Have Been The Worst Since The Great Depression for Duration of Job Losses

Throughout the Great Recession and Its Aftermath, Massachusetts Has Maintained a Lower Unemployment Rate Than the US

Massachusetts Has the Largest Proportion of Workers with a Bachelor's Degree or Higher

The Proportion of Workers with a College Education Has Grown Since 1979

Real Wages Grew Faster for Workers with Higher Levels of Education

MA Workers with More Education Have Had Lower Levels of Unemployment During the Current Downturn (2010)

MA Workers with Higher Levels of Education Have Much Lower Levels of Underemployment in the Current Recover

Massachusetts Had the Second Highest Median Wage in 2010

Since the 1980s Median Wages Have Grown Faster in Massachusetts than in Other States

Real Wages Have Grown Faster for Higher Wage Earners in Recent Decades

The Gap Between High and Low Wage Earners Has Grown in Recent Decades

Growth in Income Has Been Much Weaker for Low-Income Massachusetts Households Than for Others

The Real Value of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Has Declined 23 Percent Since 1968

Minimum Wage Increases in the 2000s Were Followed by Wage Increases for Other Low-Wage Workers

Massachusetts Ranks Among the 10 States with the Lowest Poverty Rates in the U.S.

Poverty Among Children is Rising in Massachusetts and the U.S.

Deep Poverty is at a 10-Year Highpoint in Both Massachusetts and the U.S.

As of November 2011, forty-seven months from the official start of the Great Recession, the U.S. continues to have 4.6 percent fewer jobs than were available at the recession’s start. Historically, this many months after the onset of a recession, the US has regained all the jobs lost during the recession and in most cases added substantially to the number of jobs available.

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Source: EPI analysis of BLS Current Establishment Survey data and NBER recession data

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