The air was thick with anticipation as US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar stepped to the microphone, even though the news he was about to make had already leaked […]
Employment
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Crunch time for Massachusetts gambling debate
Massachusetts is on the brink of opening the door to expanded gambling. A conference committee of six legislators, three House members and three Senators, is working to reach agreement on […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
5-day furloughs, layoffs at courts
CORRECTION: This story has been changed to clarify who is covered by the court’s furlough program. The original story indicated judges, clerks, registers, chief probation officers, and managers would be […]
Posted inEconomy
Job prospects
the no. 1 issue on the minds of voters this year is jobs, and politicians on Beacon Hill are responding with a flurry of proposals. Most of them fall in […]
Posted inEconomy
Hedging the bet
Like most games of chance, the numbers looked too good to be true. And now it looks like they were. At the unveiling Thursday of House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s gaming […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
DeLeo’s “jobs” bill
Let me be very clear: The legislation I’m proposing to you today is a jobs bill. It creates a new sector of our economy that will create jobs and help […]
Posted inEconomy
Reversal of fortune
House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s plan to bring casinos and racinos to the state looks on its face to be facing long odds — if the only casino vote on record […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
DeLeo’s gambling proposal
I’ve now been Speaker for more than a year. It has certainly been a year of challenge, not only for those of us in government but for our citizens, as […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
DeLeo goes all in — with a story to tell
HE DIDN’T REPRISE Senate President Therese Murray’s one-word policy pronouncement when she spoke before the same group last year and declared, in response to a question about bringing casinos to […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
HEFA backs Murray bill
There has been much written and said about HEFA in the last year, and unfortunately far too little of it has been accurate. In fact, none of the publicity captured […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Jobs must be our focus
This is an important piece of legislation, and I’m proud to have filed it with my colleague, Senator Karen Spilka. It’s important because it addresses our most pressing concern right […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Stop Bay State subsidies for Hollywood moguls
It’s time to pull our heads out of the popcorn buckets. With 310,000 jobless residents, Massachusetts can’t afford to waste any more public resources on subsidies for Hollywood moguls. The […]
Posted inEconomy
Going it alone
According to data released late last year by the US Census Bureau, “nonemployer businesses”—mostly consisting of just one person, working full or part-time— have been on the rise, at least […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Carpentry apprentices help nonprofits get real-world training
for david leonhardi, a union’s effort to increase its community service offerings has helped enhance his teaching. Leonhardi is an instructor at the New England Regional Council of Carpenters’ training […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
Fewer high school grads in jobs pipeline
INTRO TEXT Massachusetts is facing a serious brain drain. Over the next 15 years, forecasters expect the state’s school-age population to shrink and the number of high school graduates to […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Public vs. private pensions
I’ve finally read my copy of January’s Notes, the monthly newsletter from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. (They need more exciting covers.) It features lots of charts on how educational […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Baby boomers may be knocking off too early
USA Today’s Sandra Block writes that Baby Boomers may be making a big mistake by retiring at 62, the first year they’re eligible for Social Security benefits:…millions of the oldest […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
How much is a degree worth?
The Census Bureau has just posted new data on how educational attainment affects personal income. Among the findings: Workers with vocational education earn the most in the electronics field (an […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
The geography of job insecurity
The Boston Globe’s Adrian Walker writes today on the slow progress in creating pilot schools in Boston. Part of the resisistance comes from teachers’ union members: To their supporters, pilot […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
If not for Michigan…
Massachusetts would be dead last in job creation from 2001 to 2006. In fact, the Bay State is still 100,000 jobs short of its 2001 level, which was the peak […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The auto industry goes flat
Things that transport other things still make up the biggest manufacturing sector in the US, but the number of people employed in the automotive, aerospace, and shipbuilding industries is on […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Still on the job
Today’s map, in a seasonal color, uses recent Census data to show where people are most likely to still be working past the traditional retirement age of 65. Seniors are […]
Posted inEconomy
Unions fight moves against construction labor agreements
INTRO TEXT fiscal watchdog groups have long railed against agreements guaranteeing union-only workers on major construction projects. But with public budgets under stress, even some usual labor allies are questioning […]
