The Boston Herald highlighted the findings of MassBenchmarks in an article appearing in their business section. MassBenchmarks is the quarterly journal of the Massachusetts economy published by the UMass Donahue Institute in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The journal estimates that the gross state product grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011, putting the state’s economic growth below the U.S. fourth quarter rate of 2.8 percent.

The article describes the three factors influencing the slowdown: a decline in worldwide demand for information technology products, accelerated hiring focused on the early part of the year and the European debt crisis, which has hindered export activity. With much of the downturn attributed to timing, MassBenchmarks expects the state’s recovery to continue, predicting a stronger growth of 3.5 percent in the first quarter and 4 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

Read the story, “Report: Mass. economy slows in final quarter of 2011, lags nation” (The Boston Herald, 1/27/12)