Economy

Amid uncertainty about a future recession, a pause in interest rate hikes, and a continuing tight labor market, Central Massachusetts business leaders turned pessimistic in June.

Aspiring nurse aides should be allowed to take the certification exam in languages other than English, lawmakers and advocates said Thursday as they sought to revive support for a measure that died at the legislative finish line last year.

As hospitals shutter services in the wake of staffing shortages, community members and health care workers will argue Thursday that the state should become responsible for hospitals that are "essential" but threatening to close.

People who file new unemployment claims on or after July 2 will now be eligible for a maximum of 26 weeks of benefits, down from 30 weeks due to low unemployment in the state's metro areas, state officials announced this week.

The first half of 2023 was a difficult one for home buyers and for real estate agents as single-family home sales cratered and home prices plateaued high above pre-COVID levels.

After the first half of 2023 rocked the banking world and as uncertainty clouds the economic future, Central Mass. bankers are staying the course.

At the end of 2022, WBJ readers were more pessimistic about the future of the Central Massachusetts economy than they had been at any point in the previous 10 years. The first five months of this year only made them more pessimistic.

June is usually the second- or third-biggest month of the year for tax collections, and a mid-month report shows receipts outpacing last year's pace over the first roughly two weeks of the month.

Worcester-based Washburn-Garfield, an industrial pipe, valve, and fitting supplier, has been acquired by The Collins Cos., a distributor in East Windsor, Connecticut.

The local unemployment rate in Central Massachusetts communities remained low in May, including falling further from April figures in the North Worcester County region.