New England: Encyclopedia II - New England - Economy

New England - Economy

In the twentieth century, most of New England's traditional industries have relocated to states or foreign countries where goods can be made more cheaply. In more than a few factory towns, skilled workers have been left without jobs. Largely around Boston in the ring of Route 128, the gap has been partly filled by high technology industries, in particular biotech. Education, high technology, financial services, tourism, and medicine, continue to drive the local economy.

In the southwestern Connecticut counties of Fairfield and New Haven the economy is more closely associated with New York City, and the economy is more often viewed as an extension of the New York Metropolitan Area. For years many residents of southwestern Connecticut have crossed the state line each day to work in Manhattan. More recently, New Yorkers have begun to travel into Connecticut as part of a reverse commute to many of the job centers developed in the suburbs.

In rural New England the economy still revolves around fishing, farming and forestry, as well as small hometown businesses that serve the rural populations. Much of the landscape of New England is comprised of small, family farms: typically dairy, fiber, and diversified market vegetable farms which are sold at the many small farmers markets throughout the region. There is a growing movement toward organic farming, particularly in Vermont and Maine.

Forestry is primarily a large-scale operation in the northernmost regions of New England. Nearly 25% of the land mass of Maine is privately held by paper companies. Logging this land and processing the timber are an important piece of this regions economy, with a surprising number of paper mills along major rivers in the region.

In coastal New England, fishing comes primarily in the form of lobstering, with groundfishing, and shellfish digging also being important contributors to the fishing economy. Aquiculture is a growing industry. Herring seining (baitfish for lobstering) is also important.

The GDP of New England is approximately $649 billion; per capita it is $45,786

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Economy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki