Massachusetts

Bay State growth gains as U.S. 1st-quarter rate sags

Bay State growth gains as U.S. 1st-quarter rate sags

State House News Service

BOSTON – Hours after the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved an annual budget bill calling for modest spending increases, federal officials reported Thursday that the U.S. economy nearly stalled last winter, declining from relatively modest growth rates over the past two years. By contrast, a local assessment showed that Bay State growth gained momentum over the past quarter.

The U.S. Commerce Department cautioned that its "advance" estimate that pegged first-quarter gross domestic product growth at 0.5 percent on an annual basis is subject to further refinement and revision, with the first expected on May 27. If it stands, today's estimate would be the weakest growth in the economy in two years. GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity.

Old school outreach and the limits of progressive politics
Massachusetts

Old school outreach and the limits of progressive politics

Frank Conte

If only the outwardly progressive candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat had looked to history, one of their own might have begun a new Boston dynasty.

The special election earlier this month to replace outgoing state Senator Anthony Petruccelli of East Boston will be known as a lost opportunity for progressives. For years, the district, which stretches from Revere and Winthrop through East Boston into the North End and Waterfront, and also includes East Cambridge and Chinatown, "belonged to East Boston."

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