Mass. economy outperforms U.S. economy

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A new report out by MassBenchmarks says that the Massachusetts economy outperformed the nation as a whole, during the first quarter of 2012.

"I do believe that everybody's out supporting each other. I think that people are spending and that's what we have to do to create more jobs", Samantha Edwards of Longmeadow told 22News.

The state's economy grew at a 4.5% annualized rate over the first three months of the year--compared to the nation's 2.2% rate; and now experts are saying that it's a good sign for the state.

Typically, this kind of increase is led by an upswing in housing. But Karl Petrick, Assistant Professor at Western New England University says that's not the case--this time.

"It's being led by innovation and technology, and those are areas where we're--as a state--(especially in the east) are fairly strong", said Petrick.

Despite what this new report says, some people in western Massachusetts are still not convinced.

"I'm not that confident. A lot of my business clients, I think, are still feeling the pain. They're putting off legal work until they think things are better, a little more secure," said Anders Smith--a lawyer in Springfield.

However, there are two opportunities that may offer some growth to the western Massachusetts economy. The first is a project underway at the former technical high school in Springfield, which will backup the state's data. The other is in Holyoke, where work is being done on creating a green energy high-performance computing center.

Experts hope more high-tech industries will follow suit and help instill new beginnings to an already fragile, yet hopeful economy.