The Bureau of Labor Statistics today released the state employment and unemployment figures for the month of July. The bureau's regional economist, Timothy Consedine, says there was no significant change compared to June, but Massachusetts has seen significant growth compared to a year ago, particularly in the Greater Boston area, which encompasses over two-thirds of Massachusetts employment. "We see growth in the Boston/Cambridge/Quincy metropolitan statistical area - 59,000 jobs, and it’s widely spread across the 11 subsectors of industries that we track,” Consedine said. Professional and Continue reading >>>

Take the square footage: 15,453. That includes 23 rooms total; nine bedrooms; 14 bathrooms, including two in the master suite; game rooms; a four-bay garage (detached); museum-quality entertaining rooms, including a music room; an elevator; 10 fireplaces; and a reception hall gilded in gold leaf. Outside there's more than 3.6 acres of lawn and garden as well as lily ponds, a pool and what looks like some sort of boyhood-fantasy fort in the woods. Mind-bogglingly, the Gibson Sotheby's listing passingly mentions that "additional acreage is available." The estate hit the sales market late last Continue reading >>>

PAWTUCKET, R.I., Aug. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Envision Technology Advisors has announced the opening of a new office in the Greater Boston area. Located at 800 South Street, Suite 300 in Waltham, Massachusetts, this new location, which is Envision's second, continues the trend of growth that the IT consulting company has seen over the past few years and it strengthens their presence in the Boston marketplace. "We've been serving clients in Boston for a number of years now, working with Boston University, DiMella Schaffer, Design Partnership of Cambridge, Fenway Health and others," says Todd Continue reading >>>

Home prices jumped a dizzying 12.2 percent in the nation's top metro markets in May, according to the latest Case-Shiller report. For the majority who are not real estate junkies, the Case-Shiller home price index is the industry's bible, co-founded by none other than local guy Karl Case, now professor emeritus of economics at Wellesley College. Greater Boston prices rose by a much more modest 1.8 percent in May over April, though we are up a fairly substantial 7.5 percent compared to a year ago, according to Case-Shiller, which focuses solely on resales of existing homes. However, online Continue reading >>>

On Aug. 12, 2013, the Greater Boston Labor Council announced its endorsement of Neil Osborne for Medford City Council. The candidate was interviewed by representatives of several unions, and GBLC officers. Osborne, an attorney in private practice, received his Masters of Science in labor relations from UMass Amherst’s Center for Labor Studies in 1991. The GBLC is comprised of 154 unions representing more than 90,000 members in Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Needham, Newton, Revere, Continue reading >>>

On Aug. 12, 2013, the Greater Boston Labor Council announced its endorsement of Neil Osborne for Medford City Council. The candidate was interviewed by representatives of several unions, and GBLC officers. Osborne, an attorney in private practice, received his Masters of Science in labor relations from UMass Amherst’s Center for Labor Studies in 1991. The GBLC is comprised of 154 unions representing more than 90,000 members in Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Needham, Newton, Revere, Continue reading >>>

Elementary school students across the region will find tighter security this fall, ranging from new surveillance cameras to more locked doors, as school districts rethink the safety of their youngest students following the devastating shootings last winter in Newtown, Conn. Of 20 school districts surveyed in Greater Boston, 19 have added new security equipment or procedures at the elementary level since a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 students and six educators in December. In Salem, all schools are getting panic buttons, so staff will have a direct line to police in Continue reading >>>

Organizers of a Boston celebration of India's independence have canceled this year's event because security measures put in place after the Boston Marathon bombings have made it prohibitively expensive. The annual event that has drawn as many as 20,000 people was scheduled for Aug. 18 on the Esplanade. In a letter posted on the India Association of Greater Boston's website, organizers say it's been canceled until a new location can be found. The letter says the association would lose $20,000, “inappropriate for a nonprofit organization.' New security measures include bag checks at entrances and Continue reading >>>

The escalating violence in Egypt, which has taken the lives of more than 600, feels close to some students in Greater Boston. Mohammad Sherine Hamdy is a student at Harvard Law School. His family is back home in Alexandria, Egypt, and he's been following the events back home on social media and through conversations with his family. His father is one of the many in Egypt who is defending his home, carrying a stick or kitchen knife as protection. But what makes this so dramatic is that Hamdy's father formerly supported the Morsi government. "My dad a Continue reading >>>

The escalating violence in Egypt, which has taken the lives of more than 600, feels close to students in Greater Boston. Mohammad Sherine Hamdy is a student at Harvard Law School. His family is back home in Alexandria, Egypt, and he's been following the events back home on social media and through conversations with his family. His father is one of those in Egypt carrying a stick or kitchen knife as protection. But what makes this so dramatic is that Hamdy's father formerly supported the Morsi government. "My dad a year and a half ago was one of the Continue reading >>>