Executive Summary

This edition of the State of Working Massachusetts examines conditions in Massachusetts during the business cycle that led up to this collapse: what happened to employment and wages overall; which sectors grew and which got smaller; who gained and who lost; how our workforce has changed in terms of age, educational attainment, and diversity; how the lowest income people have fared; and how these changes in Massachusetts compared to those in the nation overall.

The economic trends in Massachusetts followed trends nationwide: there was growing inequality as real wages declined at the bottom and incomes grew rapidly at the top; there was a hollowing out in the middle as manufacturing declined and lower wage sectors grew; there was weak employment growth as the state ended a period of recovery with 89,000 fewer jobs than at the previous high point. Although some people amassed great wealth over the past seven years, it was not a period of strong economic growth for many Massachusetts families.

While Massachusetts suffered many of the same ills as the nation, there were some bright signs. The state continued a trend of becoming increasingly well-educated. The share of the labor force with a bachelor’s degree increased to 43.7 percent – up from 32.2 percent in 1990. This rate is more than 35 percent above the national rate of 30.3 percent. As jobs that pay higher wages have increasingly required higher levels of education, Massachusetts’ well-earned reputation for having an educated workforce should continue to give the Commonwealth a long-term advantage over other states.