New Englanders have needed their crusty Yankee reserve to weather the storm that hit the area's economy three years ago like a ‘Noreaster’ blowing off the Atlantic. It's been anything but a winter wonderland for New England businesses since the late 1990s. The industrial market is suffering the most. According to the New England Economic Project, manufacturers have cut nearly 150,000 jobs in the past two years. Add in the cuts in IT and the service segments, and you have an employment decline of over 267,000 jobs since 2000. Housing construction is slow, but prices are high. There is some good news: Grubb & Ellis says office vacancy rates in downtown Boston are relatively low. And with the $14.6 billion “Big Dig” construction project nearing completion, the Boston Harbor area is expected to be a hotbed of new construction. The market's diverse economic base will help the region dig out from this storm — eventually.
(in millions of dollars)
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
MSA — Metropolitan Statistical Area
PMSA — Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area
CMSA — Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area
^ — This regional electrical contractor employment number utilizes both 2002 and 2003 employment figures. For directional purposes only.
EC — Electrical contractor employees for March 2003. Actual numbers.
* — Electrical contractor employees for March 2002. Actual numbers.
M — Manufacturing employees for July 2003. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
C — Commercial account employees (professional and business services, retail trade, financial activities, educational and health services, and other services) for July 2003. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
G — Government employees for July 2003. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics