00:58 Roof Avalanche Injures Five Two people were taken to a hospital after they were hit by falling snow Wednesday evening in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The snow fell from an ice rink's roof onto five people who were walking on a pathway.

More than 100 inches of snow has taken its toll on many cities from Massachusetts to Maine this winter. Much of this snow fell in a condensed time period from late-January through February, impacting cities such as Boston, Worcester, Massachusetts and Bangor, Maine.

(MORE: New England Record Snow Tracker )

In addition to being a big hassle for those that must remove the snow from driveways and roofs, it's also had a major impact on the economy. Massachusetts alone has lost an estimated $1 billion in wages and profits due to impacts from the snow, according to the economic analysis firm IHS Global Insight. Given that businesses had to close and customers were unable to travel at times during the winter storm barrage, retailers and restaurants were affected in a big way.

A total of 12 named winter storms affected the United States in just over six weeks from January 21 through March 5. All but one of the winter storms affected New England with at least light snow accumulations. Four of those storms dumped more than 16 inches of snow on Boston.

The snowstorms caused sales to fall an average of 24 percent for many industries surveyed by Massachusetts business groups. Payroll fell approximately seven percent for small business members.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/AP951854956170_1_1.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/AP951854956170_1_1.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/AP951854956170_1_1.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > A New Bedford man makes a path through the wind driven snow after a snowstorm in New Bedford, Mass., Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Standard Times, David W. Oliveira)

Car dealers and real estate agents complained the poorly timed storms — many of which hit on or around weekends — were disastrous to business. And with the exception of the region's ski resorts, many hotels, transportation companies and other businesses in the travel and tourism trade say they've struggled too.

"January and February are always tough months for us because people just don't want to travel," said Christopher Crean, a vice president at Peter Pan, a Springfield-based long-distance bus company. "But when you add in all the snow and cold and highway closures, that just compounds the injury. It's hard to make a profit."

(GIFs: This Winter in 10 Seconds )

Manufacturers, meanwhile, report they're just starting to catch up on nearly a month of lost productivity.

During the worst of the storms, assembly lines shut down, work orders were delayed or canceled outright and treacherous roads and iced-over rail lines hindered transport of finished products.

"Not only were we losing sales on the front end of the storms, now we're paying a lot more on the back end to get product out," said Michael Tamasi, CEO of AccuRounds, a Massachusetts maker of shafts, valves and other parts for medical, defense, aerospace and information technology companies. "We've been adding hours, stretching out the work day, working on Saturdays, whatever we need to do."

Business leaders say the storms, if anything, laid bare the shortcomings of two critical pieces of the regional economy: Greater Boston's road and transit systems.

"We still have congested streets and longer commutes and that's meaning lost productivity," said Timothy Murray, president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. "The system has really been no match for Mother Nature."

Economists expect the ripple effects of New England's storms will be felt nationally, but it's too early to say to what extent.

(MORE: Milder Weather Pattern Expected )

Doug Handler, chief North American economist at the Massachusetts-based IHS Global Insight, says the storms likely won't have the economic punch of last year's winter, when the so-called polar vortex exposed large swaths of the country to subzero temperatures and snow. That weather phenomenon caused widespread economic disruptions. Estimates for its overall economic impact have been pegged at anywhere from $15 billion to $50 billion.

"This is much more localized and in a region that can handle it, to a degree," Handler said, acknowledging that parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic also saw snow this week, albeit nothing on the scale of what New England has gotten this winter. "We're prepared for it in New England, whereas last year, some regions just weren't."

Indeed, U.S. employers added 295,000 jobs in February, exceeding expectations, the Labor Department reported Friday. Within that data, Handler noted the number of workers in nonagricultural jobs that were unable to work because of inclement weather was roughly on par with February's historical average.

Elsewhere, Autodata Corp reported U.S. car sales in February were up about 5.3 percent from January but still fell short of expected gains. Analysts predict lost sales should be made up as the weather warms; U.S. new car sales are still on track to hit their highest level in more than a decade.

Economists also expect many New England industries will recover most lost productivity.

The region's population centers are now largely built around hospitals, universities and the financial, health care and IT sectors — industries that are somewhat resilient to weather-related shutdowns. Many employees can work from home or simply spend more time in the office catching up. But even among those high-skill industries, there are limits to what can be done to soften the blow of bad weather.

Many drugmakers, research labs and other large health care and biotech institutions maintained 24/7 operations through the storms, taking on overtime costs or covering hotel stays and other travel expenses that likely won't be recouped, industry officials said.

"There's certain research that you just can't stop," said Peter Abair, of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, which represents more than 650 biotechnology companies and academic institutions. "To stop a project midstream is very difficult. All your expenses go out the door. You have to start from scratch."

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