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The US economy is wonky right now. How about Massachusetts? – The Boston Globe

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.





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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.

The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.

The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.

For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.

The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.

The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.

Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.

That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!

Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks




Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks – CBS Boston

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Poya Sohrabi hasn’t heard from his family since they took shelter from attacks in Tehran. WBZ-TV’s Mike Sullivan reports.

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How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

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How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?


With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.

So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?

An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.

Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.

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While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.

Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.

“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.

GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.

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