Isabel Tehan

The Massachusetts unemployment rate for May fell to 2.8%, down 0.3 of a percentage point from April. This is the third month in a row that the unemployment rate has decreased, and the first time it has dipped below the 3.0% percent mark in 2023, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Discovery Museum in Acton will have a new CEO in January, when current chief development officer Marie Beam steps into the role. Beam will take over the role held by Neil Gordon for 14 years.

Health inequities experienced by communities of color have an economic burden of $5.9 billion annually, according to a newly released study from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

The City of Worcester is set to allocate $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the United Way of Central Massachusetts, which the nonprofit will use to support its food insecurity programs.

Framingham-based renewable energy company Ameresco is partnering with Ontario Power Generation subsidiary Atura Power to develop a 250-megawatt, 1,000-megawatthour battery energy storage system to power Ontario, Canada’s electricity grid.

Southborough life science research company Veristat has acquired Scinopsis, a medical writing consultancy firm based in Fréjus, France.

Gardner manufacturer Precision Optics has named Wayne Coll its new CFO.

Artificial intelligence offers ways to improve the burdensome electronic health records process, but a leading Westborough company urges caution amid innovation.

Marlborough firm Akoya Biosciences has eliminated two C-suite positions as part of an initiative to cut its expenses, as it aims to raise $43.5 million in additional funding.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts saw its annual spending on mental health care services for members reach $1.3 billion in 2022, according to newly released data from BCBS. In 2019, annual spending for the same services was $610 million.