Featured Municipal Bond in the Market, Week of 12/19/2016: Commonwealth of Massachusetts General Obligation Bonds – $188 Million
This week’s featured bond comes from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts is issuing general obligation bonds in the amount of $188 million the week of December 19, 2016. These bonds are scheduled to be issued as a single series, used primarily to refund previously issued general obligation bonds 2013 Series A, and 2014 Series E. Security for the bonds is the full faith and credit of the Commonwealth. It is noted that Massachusetts has statutorily enforced limits on state tax revenue growth, including interest and principal payments on state debt. Further details on the purposes, security, and other matters pertaining to these Commonwealth of Massachusetts general obligation bonds can the found in the preliminary official statement, provided by MuniOS.
As of November 2016, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has an unemployment rate of 2.6%, which is 1.9% lower than the same time last year, and 2.0% lower than the national average.
Provided at left is a quick snapshot of financial characteristics of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with the medians for other states for 2014-2015, courtesy of Merritt Research Services, LLC. Merritt has many of the sector medians publicly available and regularly updated on their Benchmark Central page. (Merritt believes the data to be reliable but does not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness). In addition to the Merritt information related to the featured bond, more information can be found on our municipal bond calendar, city, state, and county pages, and our employment database. These facts and numbers are for informational purposes, and should not be considered an official disclosure for potential investors. Investors should consult the official statement. None of the information provided should be construed as a recommendation by MuniNet Guide, MuniNet LLC, Merritt Research Services LLC, or any of their employees. Information and analysis is for informational purposes only.