March 29, 2004 9:40 AM

The bigger we are, the harder we fall
Posted by at 9:40 AM

Globe Business writer Charles Stein yesterday applies some reasoning to why historically, Massachusetts' job market has been hit harder than others.

The heart of the problem seems to be the boom and bust nature of the local economy. Massachusetts soared in both the 1980s and 1990s. Trouble is, when the state fell to earth at the ends of both decades it fell harder and farther than just about any place in the country. ''Our highs are higher but our lows are also lower," said Michael Goodman, an economist at the University of Massachusetts.