Census estimate a concern for Massachusetts

The Boston Globe reports on Massachusetts:

Massachusetts lost residents for the second year in a row, new federal Census estimates show, underscoring an accelerating population shift from the Northeast to the South and West that threatens to erode the state's political and economic clout.

Only two other states, along with the District of Columbia, lost population from July 1, 2004, to July 1 of this year, according to US Census estimates released yesterday. The Bay State lost about 8,600 residents, or .1 percent of its population, according to the estimates.

If the trend continues, specialists say, the state will face serious consequences: fewer seats in Congress, companies choosing to locate or expand elsewhere, a shrinking labor force, and less federal funding for transportation, housing, and other initiatives.

''You kind of have to ask yourself . . . why would it be, when it turns out the economy improved a little bit, that you would continue to lose people outside the state?" said Andy Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. The answer, Sum and others said, is better job prospects and cheaper housing elsewhere.

Some states like middle income people,some don't like Massachusetts which has zoned people out.What went wrong with Massachusetts??