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Print Edition StoriesFriday, June 19, 2009
Inside Finance Strategies
New England finance strategies data
By Mass High Tech Staff
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MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: Tech companies may have to wait for stimulus funds
MHT's Doug Banks: 10 Women to Watch in tech
Recovery: Wait for it
New England still has some work to do in turning around the economy and the unemployment problem that have haunted the region and the nation for the past year, according to research released last month by the New England Economic Partnership. In fact, don’t expect employment in the six states to bottom out until the second quarter of 2010, according to NEEP.
The organization says economic growth won’t be in full swing before 2011, with full employment not restored before late 2013.
450,000
The projected total job losses from a regional work force of 7 million-plus
Expected peak unemployment:
| Area | Peak unemployment |
| New England | 9.2% |
| U.S. | 10.3% |
| Connecticut | 8.9% |
| Maine | 9.7% |
| Massachusetts | 9.5% |
| New Hampshire | 7.1% |
| Rhode Island | 10.9% |
| Vermont | 9.0% |
9.7%
The peak unemployment rate for New England in the early 1990s
3.5%
The peak unemployment for the region during the dot-com bust of the early 2000s
Source: NEEP
Good side of the curve
Unemployment rates for March showed New England trailing the national unemployment rate, and that of the Pacific region.
| New England | 7.8% |
| Pacific | 10.8% |
| United States | 8.5% |
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics
Stabilization?
Monster Worldwide maintains its Monster Employment Index as a monthly gauge of U.S. online job demand. Despite a dip in May, the index is showing signs of stabilization in employer demand.
| May '08 | 166 |
| June '08 | 157 |
| Sep. '08 | 160 |
| Nov. '08 | 143 |
| Jan. '09 | 118 |
| May '09 | 118 |
SOURCE: Monster Worldwide
What you cost the company
Employer costs for employee compensation in private industry stood at $27.46 per hour for all workers, and $48.82 for management/professional employees, according to March data compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here’s how those costs break down.
| Expense | All Workers | Management or Professional |
| Total cost | $27.46 | $48.82 |
| Wages/salaries | 19.45 | 34.73 |
| Paid Leave | ||
| Vacation | .96 | 2.13 |
| Holiday | .60 | 1.29 |
| Sick | .23 | .53 |
| Personal | .07 | .15 |
| Supplemental Pay | ||
| Overtime/premium | .27 | .20 |
| Shift differential | .07 | .14 |
| Non-production bonus | .44 | 1.13 |
| Insurance | ||
| Life | .05 | .09 |
| Health | 2.00 | 2.91 |
| Short-term disability | .05 | .09 |
| Long-term disability | .04 | .09 |
| Retirement and savings | ||
| Defined benefit | .41 | .70 |
| Defined contribution | .55 | 1.23 |
| Legally required benefits | ||
| Social Security/Medicare | 1.63 | 2.85 |
| Federal unemployment insurance | .03 | .03 |
| State unemployment insurance | .15 | .16 |
| Worker's compensation | .45 | .37 |
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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