Mass. Economic Growth Slows In 3rd Quarter

Massachusetts' gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2 percent in the third quarter of the year, according to a new estimate out Thursday.

That's a slightly better growth rate than the nation's during the same three months — 1.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday — but it represents a slowdown compared with Massachusetts' strong economic expansion in the second quarter of the year.

The state economy grew at a 7.1 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, according to newly revised figures from the UMass Donahue Institute in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

"Much of the decline in the pace of growth was due to slower productivity growth rather than a weakening in the fundamental underlying strength of the regional economy," the latest MassBenchmarks journal stated.

The report mentioned the state's disappointing jobs report for September, and said that despite a loss of an estimated 7,100 jobs, Massachusetts' payroll employment grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the quarter.

The MassBenchmarks authors forecast the state economy will rebound and grow at a 3.6 percent annualized rate over the next six months.