By Todd Gillespie and Catherine Lucey Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to pitch public stock offerings for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fraser met with Trump to discuss the bank’s possible involvement in monetizing the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., the firms that have been under government […]
By Maria Eloisa Capurro and Amara Omeokwe Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook called the July jobs report “concerning,” and said it could signal an inflection point for the US economy. “These revisions are somewhat typical of turning points,” Cook said Wednesday during a moderated discussion organized by the Boston Fed. Data published last week pointed to a sharp […]
By Ben Casselman Economic growth softened in the first half of the year, as tariffs and uncertainty upended business plans and scrambled consumers’ spending decisions. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, increased at a 3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That topped forecasters’ expectations and appeared to […]
Gary Higgins Massachusetts’ tech sector shed more than 8,200 jobs last year, marking the second-worst decline nationwide, according to CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce 2025 report released Tuesday. The state’s tech workforce shrank 2.6%, falling from 319,416 jobs in 2023 to 311,165 in 2024. Only California reported a greater loss, with more than 51,000 […]
Gary Higgins In its fifth annual Massachusetts Talent and Competitiveness Survey 2025, McKinsey & Co., working with the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, identified three main obstacles to doing business in the Commonwealth: high costs of doing business, high living expenses, and aging infrastructure. Business leaders met Thursday to review the survey results and discuss strategies for […]
Gary Higgins / Boston Business Journal Marc Cadieux, president of Silicon Valley Bank’s commercial banking, acknowledges that the recent surge in AI funding and sky-high valuations might be creating a speculative bubble. While AI has been evolving for years, the rise of technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT has sparked massive investor enthusiasm and capital inflows, fueling […]
By Nick Timiraos The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady this week, citing uncertainty around the economic impact of recently announced tariff hikes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that sustained tariffs could lead to higher inflation, slower growth, and increased unemployment — a tough mix for policymakers. The Fed is choosing a cautious “wait and see” […]
Gary Higgins Artificial intelligence deals led every area of venture capital investment in the first quarter, and Massachusetts deals held their own against stiff West Coast competition, according to newly released data. Despite being much smaller, in terms of population, Massachusetts ranked third behind California and New York for venture capital deals and total VC […]
By William Hall Another merger of Bay State financial institutions is in the works — and for the leaders of Eastern Bank and HarborOne Bank, this one is personal. Under a pending agreement, Boston-based Eastern Bankshares Inc. (Nasdaq: EBC) would acquire Brockton-based HarborOne Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: HONE) for roughly $490 million. Eastern plans to pay HarborOne […]
By William Hall Little more than a year after going public, the parent company of Needham Bank posted a 19% drop in quarterly net income due to two onetime expenses, while loans and deposits both grew. NB Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: NBBK) on Tuesday evening posted first-quarter results including net income of $12.7 million. Those numbers compare […]
