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Costs of Doing Business

With gas prices topping $4 a gallon and diesel inching to $5 a gallon, consumer confidence continues to decline. But the Massachusetts economy is still faring better than the nation as a whole.

New estimates from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis show economic growth in Massachusetts for 2007 was 2-and-a-half percent, half a percentage point higher than the nation's.

But outside high tech, healthcare, and education, many people in the Bay State are hurting. Especially those who run small businesses in the retail and service sectors.

WBUR's Bob Oakes discovered that in Medford when he toured a few small businesses on Main Street about a mile out of downtown...in a largely Italian section of Medford.

WBUR's Sarah Bush produced this report.

This program aired on June 12, 2008. The audio for this program is not available.

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