GREATER BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Massachusetts Jobs & Policy Update |
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OCTOBER |
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Welcome to the newly revamped Massachusetts Jobs & Policy Update from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber publishes this monthly update to provide public officials with insight into state and regional job trends, as well as a snapshot of policy issues that are critical to the region's business community.
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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Public Policy Issues
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Jobs
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Upcoming Chamber Government Affairs Forum
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PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES |
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Tax Policy: Combined Reporting Corrections Needed |
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Massachusetts combined reporting tax rules released in May create an uneven playing field for multistate and multinational companies doing business in Massachusetts. Enactment of HB 2694, corrective legislation, will keep the playing field level. It will ensure that those companies, which employ hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents, continue to hire and grow here.
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Education: Charter/Readiness Schools Will Attract Race to the Top Funds |
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The federal government will soon award $4 billion in Race to the Top Funds to states that rank high on educational innovation. To compete for these funds, and to strengthen the K-12 system, Massachusetts needs to enact an education bill in the weeks ahead. The Chamber supports legislation that will raise the cap on charter schools, create new education models such as Readiness Schools, and establish new mechanisms for turning around underperforming
schools. |
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Health Care: Cost Control Steps Should be Expanded |
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A number of ideas are being put forward to slow the rapid growth of health care costs. Such growth burdens everyone who pays for health care, including employers, individuals, state and local governments. The Chamber believes that Massachusetts should focus on cost-management alternatives, such as medical homes, electronic medical records, and payment reform, while resisting the lure of quick fixes. State health care purchasing policies, in Medicaid
and other programs, can also have a positive effect on health care costs. |
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For more information on the Chamber's policy agenda, contact Jim Klocke, executive vice president; Tim Sweeney, director of public policy; or Sarah Lanning, assistant director of economic development. |
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JOBS |
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Massachusetts Jobs Update: September 2009 |
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State lost 9,200 jobs last month; unemployment rate rises to 9.3%, up 3.7% last 12 months
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State falls to 207,600 jobs below previous peak, lowest jobs level since April 1998
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All 12 regions shed jobs last 12 months; seven of 12 regions shed jobs last month
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State posted 3.4% job loss last 12 months, moderately better than US job loss rate of 4.2%
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Regional Jobs Breakdown |
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Metropolitan Region |
Total
Jobs |
Change Since September 2008
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MASSACHUSETTS |
3,176,400 |
-3.4% |
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Barnstable |
95,700 |
-4.7% |
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Boston-Cambridge-Quincy |
1,670,600 |
-2.8% |
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Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton |
85,200 |
-3.5% |
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Framingham |
156,300 |
-2.2% |
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Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury |
74,100 |
-4.1% |
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Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner |
48,200 |
-4.0% |
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Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford |
114,100 |
-3.4% |
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New Bedford |
63,300 |
-3.4% |
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Peabody |
97,500 |
-3.6% |
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Pittsfield |
35,200 |
-3.6% |
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Springfield |
286,100 |
-3.7% |
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Worcester |
242,600 |
-1.7% |
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UPCOMING GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS FORUM BREAKFASTS |
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