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Southeastern Massachusetts is known for its favorable cost of living and for a workforce that is highly motivated but ranks well below the state average in its education level and job skills. During the 1990s, the region's population, workforce, and employment totals grew respectably, though a bit slower than for the Commonwealth as a whole.

The region is more complex than it appears. There has been uneven progress among its three distinct sub-regions in addressing the decline of their traditional industries and the transition to the new knowledge-based economy. Diverging transportation networks and the differential influence of the Boston and Providence metropolitan economies increasingly divide the subregions. This leads to sharp differences in commuting patterns, labor market attachments, economic-base composition, and subregional demographic profiles.

Employment Trends
During the expansion from 1993 to 2000, total employment in the region increased 16.8 percent, compared to a statewide gain of 20.2 percent. Confirming the relative sluggishness in its labor market, unemployment was consistently about 30 percent higher than the average for the state, only briefly falling below 4 percent. Joblessness peaked in the previous decade at 12.2 percent in 1991 and achieved its most recent low of 3.5 percent in 2000.

In 2001, the unemployment rate grew to 4.4 percent, even while employment was rising modestly. This seeming conflict is due to the fact that labor-force growth outpaced employment in 2001. In 2002, household-based employment dropped slightly, while the unemployment rate grew to 5.4 percent. The region's relatively low educational attainment is a major factor for this drop. In 2000, 27 percent of Bristol County residents aged 25 and older did not have high school diplomas. This compares to 15 percent statewide. Similarly, only 20 percent of Bristol County residents and 28 percent of Plymouth County residents have bachelor's degrees or higher, compared to 33 percent statewide.

Sectoral Analysis
The region's largest sectors are services and retail trade, with services increasing its share during the 1993–2000 expansion. Services, however, saw a decline in average real wages. The significance of manufacturing as a major employer continued its decline, especially in the older industrial cities of Brockton, Fall River, and New Bedford. Yet manufacturing remains important to the region, as it accounts for 17.2 percent of total employment compared to 13.3 percent statewide.

The region's top five industries are health services, professional services, business services, high technology, and distribution. These provided 39.5 percent (138,348) of total employment (350,249) and included many sectors that were among the region's fastest-growing employers from 1993 to 2000.

Population
The Southeast Region had a population of 894,199 in 2000, a 6.8 percent gain over 1990, compared to a 5.5 percent increase for the state. The age distribution of the region's residents is also quite similar to that of the state, with 62.8 percent between 19 to 64 years of age. Its population is aging, with the median age rising from 33.5 to 36.6. Assuming an actual average retirement age of 65, approximately 30 percent of the workforce will retire over the next 20 years, 12 percent over the next 10 years, and 5 percent over the next five years.

The residents of the region are 88.7 percent non-Hispanic White, a decline from 93.8 percent in 1990. Blacks are the largest ethnic minority, at 3.7 percent of the population, followed by Hispanics (3.4 percent) and Asians (1.2 percent). Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in every area of the region. While Hispanic immigrants are now arriving from many parts of Latin America, growth is driven largely by immigration from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Outlook
The Southeast Region enjoys important economic advantages that make it an attractive location for businesses in the current economy. It is well positioned to accommodate future growth, as compared to the congestion of the neighboring Boston and Providence economies. The region faces significant challenges to future growth, however, particularly in its efforts to expand employment and incomes and achieve educational parity with the state as a whole.

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