Massachusetts
The US economy is wonky right now. How about Massachusetts? – The Boston Globe
With that in mind, here are four graphs that capture the state of markets, jobs, industry, and cost-of-living in the US, Massachusetts, and Greater Boston.
Stocks
First things first: Wall Street’s mini-meltdown on Aug. 5 hit the Nasdaq Composite — a collection of tech-focused companies — particularly hard, with the index slipping 3.4 percent from the previous business day. This is likely due to existing anxieties about whether stocks in this sector have been bullishly overvalued by the AI boom.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes also experienced routs, though less dramatic (2.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively).
The Massachusetts economy — while relatively strong — is heavy on tech and biotech, so it landed somewhere in the middle. On Monday, the closing price of the Boston Globe’s index, which tracks 25 publicly traded companies in the Bay State, sank 2.9 percent.
But, like, the other indexes, it was back in recovery mode by Tuesday, a rally that continued — with some stops and starts — through the week.
Employment
A big concern right now among investors is the job market, considered one of the strongest indicators of an impending recession.
The US added a relatively meager 114,000 jobs in July. State-specific payroll data for July won’t be released until later this month. But by the latest measures, Massachusetts companies are very much in hiring mode.
After stumbling earlier this year, Massachusetts employers added 19,000 jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — an uptick of 0.51 percent from May. By comparison, the US’s bump from May to June was just 0.11 percent.
GDP
Growth in Massachusetts’ gross domestic product — the total value of all produced goods and services — outran that of the US in the second quarter of 2024, ticking up by an annualized rate of 3.3 percent from the first quarter, according to MassBenchmarks, an economic group that analyzes the state. The last time that happened was a year ago, in the second quarter of 2023.
MassBenchmarks has some theories for why that is. “In Massachusetts, this increase in growth was supported by moderate payroll employment growth, high withholding and sales taxes — which imply high wage and salary income and spending growth, low unemployment rates, and a growing labor force,” the group said in a report.
Inflation/cost-of-living
If there’s one area where Boston reliably outpaces the rest of the country, it’s the cost of living. Recent data show that’s not changing.
After months of year-over-year inflation growth in the Boston metro area staying in the 2 percent range, it began to edge up again earlier this year. The last reported measure showed prices 4 percent higher in May 2024 than they were in May 2023, compared to 3.3 percent higher for the US. The increase in Boston was primarily driven — no surprise — by exorbitant shelter costs.
It remains to be seen whether prices in Boston have abated at all over the summer; the next Consumer Price Index for the metro area is due to be released later this month.
Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.
Massachusetts
Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit
Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.
Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.
Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”
Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.
“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”
Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.
“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”
The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.
It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.
Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.
Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.
The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”
“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”
Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.
He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”
It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.
Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”
Massachusetts
French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston
BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.
LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.
The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.
LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.
The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.
Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer
A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.
The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.
Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.
“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”
“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”
The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.
Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”
“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”
Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.
The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”
“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”
They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.
“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”
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