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Report: Mass. Economy Grew At 4 Percent Rate In 2nd Quarter

The Massachusetts economy grew at an annualized rate of 4 percent over the last three months, the latest MassBenchmarks report detailed Friday.

That's compared to national GDP growth of a 1.5 percent annualized rate during the same quarter, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which released its initial estimate Friday.

The federal government also revised its GDP growth calculation for the first quarter of the year, to 2 percent. In comparison, the Massachusetts economy grew at an estimated 4 percent rate during the first three months of 2012, according to MassBenchmarks.

The MassBenchmarks journal, a publication of the University of Massachusetts' Donahue Institute in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, also released its "leading index" forecast, which estimates a "moderate slowdown" in the state's economy over the next six months, with growth predicted at an annualized rate of 3.6 percent.

"There is substantial downside risk to this outlook," economist Alan Clayton-Matthews, MassBenchmarks' senior contributing editor, cautioned in the release, "due to weakness in Europe, slowing growth in China, weak growth in the U.S. economy, and uncertainty about whether and how the looming 'fiscal cliff' coming in 2013 will be resolved."

This program aired on July 27, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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