Despite Supply Issues, Holiday Sales Rise 8.5 Percent
Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season.
Food Bank Gets $5M Toward New Distribution Center
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts has received $5 million in state funding to help it build its new distribution center and headquarters in Chicopee.
Quincy Agent Admits to Three-Year Fraud
A Massachusetts real estate agent has pleaded guilty to falsely marketing properties that were not for sale and pocketing nearly $2 million in deposit checks from potential buyers.
Fed Plans Three Rate Hikes in ’22
The Federal Reserve will quicken the pace at which it’s pulling back its support for the post-pandemic U.S. economy as inflation surges, and it expects to raise interest rates three times next year.
Fed to Accelerate Withdrawal of Economic Aid as Prices Surge
Under Chair Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve is poised this week to execute a sharp turn toward tighter interest-rate policies with inflation accelerating and unemployment falling faster than expected.
Companies Rethink Return-to-Office Plans Amid Omicron Cases
Companies of all sizes are rethinking their plans to send workers back to the office as the new omicron variant adds another layer of uncertainty.
Omarova Withdraws as OCC Nominee
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Saule Omarova’s nomination to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would be withdrawn, as her candidacy faced steep resistance in the Senate with Republican lawmakers criticizing her vision for banking regulation and her birthplace in the former Soviet Union.
FinCEN Proposal Would Require Names of Company’s Owners
The U.S. Treasury Department, as part of its efforts to combat corruption and terrorism, proposed a new rule Tuesday that requires companies to identify who owns and controls them, rather than the names of the people who formed the company.
Survey: Business Economists Foresee Persistent Inflation
The nation’s business economists have sharply raised their forecasts for inflation, predicting an extension of the price spikes that have resulted in large part from bottlenecked supply chains.
First Case of Omicron Variant Detected in Mass.
A woman in her 20s who had traveled out of state is the first known case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus detected in Massachusetts, the state Department of Public Health announced Saturday.
Powell’s Warning: Fed to Tighten Credit Faster than Expected
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell took a sharp and unexpected turn Tuesday toward tightening credit for consumers and businesses in the face of mounting concerns about high inflation.
EXPLAINER: The Knowns and Unknowns of the Omicron Variant
The World Health Organization says it could still take some time to get a full picture of the threat posed by omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus as scientists worldwide scramble to assess its multiple mutations.
Powell to Face Big Challenges in Second Term as Fed Chair
Inflation has jumped to a three-decade high, and Powell’s efforts to contain it will constitute the stiffest test of his next term. In doing so, he will also have to grapple with additional complications.
Biden to Keep Powell as Fed Chair
President Joe Biden announced Monday that he’s nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell’s stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession.
CVS to Shutter 900 Stores in Three Years
CVS Health will close hundreds of drugstores over the next three years, as the retail giant adjusts to changing customer needs and converts to new store formats.
Roads, Transit, Internet: What’s in the Infrastructure Plan
The $1 trillion infrastructure plan that President Joe Biden signed into law Monday has money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and more.
1969 Bank Robbery Solved After Lynnfield Revalation
Before Thomas Randele sold luxury cars and taught golf in suburban Boston, before he got married and had a family, federal marshals say he was Theodore John Conrad, who pulled off one of the biggest bank robberies in Cleveland’s history.
‘Watered-Down Hope’: Experts Wanted More From Climate Pact
While world leaders and negotiators are hailing the Glasgow climate pact as a good compromise that keeps a key temperature limit alive, many scientists are wondering what planet these leaders are looking at.
Boston’s Acting Mayor Kim Janey Delivers Farewell Speech
Acting Mayor Kim Janey — Boston’s first woman and first Black resident to serve in the top post — bid farewell to the office Wednesday, ticking off a series of accomplishments during her brief tenure, including helping the city navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fed to Begin Slowing Economic Aid as Inflation Worries Rise
The central bank will start reducing its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases in the coming weeks, by $15 billion a month following a decision at its latest policy meeting Wednesday.
