Mass. ranks high in new economy report

Amid the daily deluge of economic concern comes a sign of stability, at least on the local front.

Massachusetts has regained the top spot in the eighth annual State Competitiveness Report — an overview of each state’s “microeconomic foundations of prosperity” — set to be released today by the Beacon Hill Institute.

The Bay State topped the list in 2006 and was second to Utah last year. In part through increased access to health insurance and a drop in crime, Massachusetts is again No. 1.

“What Massachusetts has done is retain its lead in technology and human resources and it has bounced back up on our index of security,” said Dr. Jonathan Haughton, BHI senior economist and lead author of the report.

While it is the only state to rank No. 1 in two of the report’s eight categories and is among the top nine in three others, Massachusetts falls flat in Government & Fiscal Policy (34th), Infrastructure (41st) and Environmental Policy (43).

“We’ve got some areas of tremendous strength and considerable weakness,” Haughton said, citing outrageous traffic, high energy costs and a relatively expensive housing market as areas in which the state lags behind others. “Those are serious drawbacks from a competitiveness point of view.”

Haughton said that the report’s overall picture should ease concerns over the state’s economy, calling the Commonwealth’s fundamentals “sound.”

“This is not a time to flee to Mississippi,” he said.

The Magnolia State ranked 50th.