Acton

Most of Central Massachusetts' biggest communities saw single-family home sales fall or remain flat last year while median prices continue to rise, according to data released Wednesday by The Warren Group, the Peabody-based real estate market tracker.

Jamison Loizeaux, a former championship gymnast and owner of the Gymnastic Academy Of Boston, has purchased three commercial buildings in Acton for $1.7 million.

State Rep. Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg) will resign to become president of the Alliance for Business Leadership.

The Auburn Mall Sears and The Mall at Whitney Field Sears in Leominster will be closed by February of next year as Sears, now owned by Illinois holding company Transformco, sheds over 40% of its Sears and Kmart locations around the country.

A church has bought a four-acre commercial site on Routes 2A/119 in Acton for more than $1.5 million to accommodate its growing membership.

An Acton maker of ice skate sharpening equipment is the fastest-growing private company in New England on Inc. magazine's new ranking.

Insulet reported a major improvement in its second quarter earnings report, sending its stock price skyrocketing.

Acton maker of hair drug tests Psychemedics reported both revenue and profit declines in the second quarter and through the first six months of the year due to what it says is growth in jobs not requiring drug tests.

Dressbarn is the latest retail casualty, and the company's seven Central Massachusetts locations will add to the latest storefronts to close across the area.

April's unemployment rate was down from 3.0% in March to 2.9% in April, which is the lowest rate since December 2000, according to state officials.