Snapshot of MetroWest Economy in the Midst of Recession

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2009-09-16 10:11

At its 17th Annual Conference in early May, the MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC) at Framingham State College provided businesses and civic leaders with vital data on crucial sectors of the economy necessary for planning during the coming year. (The full MERC Conference report, “Surviving Recession: MetroWest and Greater Marlborough” (74 pages, with tables and graphs) is available through MERC at www.merc-online.org.)
 
 
Cost of Living Down
The overall COL in MetroWest—still much higher than the national average—went down 4.7% between April and October 2008. Since April 2005, transportation costs rose 45% and the cost of grocery items rose 22%. Housing costs went down about 9% in the past three and a half years, but it was still higher than the national average, by two thirds, in 2008.
 
 
Housing Continues Contraction
The number of single family home building permits in MetroWest went down 30% from 2007 to 2008. Existing home sales decreased by 13% and the median price was $403,000, more than 10% less than in 2007. Condo sales decreased by over 9%, with a median price of $223,000.
 
Unemployment Up
The monthly MetroWest unemployment rate climbed to 5.8% by February of this year, the highest rate since 1993; the rate for Massachusetts was 8.3% and for the country 8.9%. Since 1997, however, the total number of jobs in the MetroWest/Greater Marlborough Region has exceeded the number of individuals in the labor force, implying that the region is a net importer of labor.
 
Employment
By June of last year, employment in the MetroWest/Greater Marlborough Region (MW/GMR) reached a record 183,300 jobs; the Professional and Business Services sector provided the largest number of jobs, 38,000, followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities, 34,700, and Manufacturing, 29,000. The total number of establishments in MW/GMR declined 3.7% between 2004 and 2007.
 
Municipal Revenue
The average per capita municipal revenue for MW/GMR in Fiscal Year 2009 was $3,879, ranging from $5,411 in Sherborn to $3,078 in Hudson. The average single family FY09 residential tax bill ranged from $12,446 in Sherborn to $3,888 in Hudson.
 
Public School Enrollment
Regional public school enrollment has declined since a peak of 46,678 students in 2005; it had increased every year from 1998 to 2005.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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