From: http://betaboston.com/news/

Despite the enormous setback of the “Great Recession,” Massachusetts still remains a leader in a number of economic sectors, according to areport released today by the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

Here are some of the main points of the 2014 Annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy:

We’re hiring a rapid pace: Eight out of 11 innovation economy sectors in Massachusetts have above average employment, leading to the “highest overall concentration of innovation economy employees” of any state in the country, at 37.8%, followed by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. In addition, the innovation economy has created around 100,000 new jobs since 2003, outpacing the state as a whole, which only created 29,000 jobs.

We’re seeing a spike in patents: Massachusetts has gained a 70% increase in patents issued per million residents since 2009, the highest in the nation, followed by California and New Jersey. The Commonwealth is also first in patents per capita and fourth in terms of overall numbers of patents.

We’re getting venture funding: In terms of venture capital per $1,000 of GDP, Massachusetts led the nation at 7.68% in 2013. In addition, Massachusetts remains second in the nation in venture capital funding in absolute terms, following California. The biggest target industries of venture capital funding in 2013 were biotechnology and software.

We’re attracting college grads: Massachusetts follows Connecticut in terms of relocation for college educated adults, in addition to attracting more international migrants than a decade ago.

Not all changes have been positive, however. One area of decline has been household income, which has seen a drop of 1.7% since 2009. However, the number of households with incomes above $100,000 are higher in Massachusetts than the U.S. average.

The Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy has been published annually since 1997 by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a public agency which seeks to foster a growing tech sector and economy across the Commonwealth.