Report: State’s Economic Growth Slowed in 2nd Quarter 

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts economy grew at a significantly slower rate in the third quarter than it did in the previous three-month period.

That’s according to a new report from MassBenchmarks, a journal published by the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts.

Economists said the state’s gross domestic product grew at an estimated annual rate of 2 percent from July to September. While still higher than estimates of overall U.S. economic growth, the state GDP dropped sharply from a 7.1 percent growth rate during the second quarter of 2015.

The report said consumer and business spending, as measured by sales and motor vehicle taxes, declined in the third quarter on the heels of what the economists said was “unsustainable” growth in the second quarter.