Latest news with #LarryEdelman
Boston Globe
16-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Mass. jobless rate climbs again amid lackluster hiring
Massachusetts employers added 7,700 jobs last month. The gain was led by three sectors: trade, transportation, and utilities; construction; and education and health services. That followed an increase of 2,800 jobs in March, which was revised lower from 4,400 jobs. Advertisement Even with last month's improvement, local hiring has lagged behind the country overall. Over the past year, Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Massachusetts nonfarm payrolls. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Larry Edelman The combination of more residents looking for work — the ranks of job-hunters increased by 7,800 last month — and lackluster job creation is pushing up the unemployment rate. The mismatch could worsen if President Trump's tariff war slows economic growth or triggers a recession. 'As Massachusetts' labor market continues to grow, the Healey-Driscoll Administration is focused on connecting jobseekers to training opportunities that will drive employment and connecting employers to skilled talent looking for their next career move,' Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones said in a statement. Advertisement The administration this week said it would allocate $6.8 million to train and hire more than 1,100 workers in health care, life sciences, technology, construction, and other industries statewide, and $22 million to hire over 6,500 youth and young adults for summer and year-round employment. Larry Edelman can be reached at
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
US inflation is cooling. But not in New England.
CPI rose 2.8 percent last month from a year earlier, as declining energy costs moderated the biggest uptick in food prices since January 2024. Consumer prices excluding food and energy — a measure known as core CPI that is considered a better indicator of underlying inflation — dipped to its lowest annual pace since April 2021. The news for Why it matters: Advertisement That momentum, combined with a slowing economy, could give the Federal Reserve more flexibility to lower interest rates if the economy weakens. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Stock prices rose modestly after two days of losses driven by tariff-induced recession fears and a steep sell-off in big tech stocks. What they're saying: 'The combination of easing inflationary pressures and rising downside risks to growth suggest that the Fed is moving closer to continuing its easing cycle,' Goldman Sachs Asset Management said in a note. The good, the bad, and the ugly: Drilling down, here are annualized changes for key components of CPI. The pace of increases in food prices ticked up to 2.6 percent. Groceries rose 1.9 percent, while meals at full-service restaurants rose 3.7 percent. Eggs rose a staggering 59 percent. Energy prices dipped 0.2 percent, as a 3.4 percent drop in gasoline prices was almost entirely offset by a 6 percent jump in the costs of natural gas. Shelter costs rose 4.2 percent, a decline from 5.7 percent in February 2024 and a peak of 8.2 percent in March 2023. Prescription drug prices increased 4.6 percent. New vehicle prices fell 0.5 percent, but insurance jumped 11.1 percent. Final thought: With But Trump's chaotic rollout of tariffs makes it difficult to know whether February's progress on prices is a welcomed resumption of disinflation or merely the calm before the storm. Larry Edelman can be reached at
