AS MITT ROMNEY pursues his bid for the presidency, his record as
Massachusetts governor will come under scrutiny, including how the
state's economy performed during his administration. Our analysis
reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the
Romney years, one of the worst in the country.
On all key labor
market measures, the state not only lagged behind the country as a
whole, but often ranked at or near the bottom of the state distribution.
Formal payroll employment in the state in 2006 was still 16,000 or 0.5
percent below its average level in 2002, the year immediately prior to
the start of the Romney administration. Massachusetts ranked third
lowest on this key job generation measure and would have ranked second
lowest if Hurricane Katrina had not devastated the Louisiana economy.
Manufacturing payroll employment throughout the nation declined by
nearly 1.1 million or 7 percent between 2002 and 2006, but in
Massachusetts it declined by more than 14 percent, the third worst
record in the country.
While the number of employed people over
age 16 in the United States rose by nearly 8 million, or close to 6
percent, between 2002 and 2006, the number of employed residents in the
Commonwealth is estimated to have modestly declined by 8,500.
Massachusetts was the only state to have failed to post any gain in its
pool of employed residents. The aggregate number of people 16 and older
either working or looking for work in Massachusetts fell over the Romney
years.
We were one of only two states to have experienced no
growth in its resident labor force. Again, without the devastating
effects of Hurricane Katrina on the dispersal of the Louisiana
population, Massachusetts would have ranked last on this measure......................
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