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Report: Mass. Economy Slumped In 2nd Quarter

A new report finds the Massachusetts economy slowed sharply during the second quarter and failed to match the pace of growth on the national level.

According to the latest MassBenchmarks Current Economic Index, the state's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.8 percent from April to June. That compares to a far more robust first quarter of 2013, when the Massachusetts economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday that the nation's GDP grew at a rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, up from 1.1 percent in the January-March quarter.

MassBenchmarks, a journal of the state economy published by the UMass Donahue Institute, said Massachusetts appears to be absorbing a disproportionate share of federal budget cuts.

The report details:

Massachusetts, which is heavily reliant on federal funds to support its research and development at the Bay State's world-class hospitals, universities and innovation sectors, and a myriad of defense and other government contractors, appears to be bearing its disproportionate fair share of the impact of these policy choices.

The journal, however, forecasts the Massachusetts economy will pick up over the rest of 2013. Its editors expect the state economy to grow at an annualized rate of 3.1 percent over the final six months of the year.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This program aired on July 31, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

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