Boston.com -- Top business news

The recession may be over at last -- so what now?

Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer — 2009-10-29T04:16:04Z

After a record four straight losing quarters, the economy finally grew again. It was hardly a boom, and it was almost all because of government spending. But it was enough to change the question from when the recession will end to whether the recovery will hold.

Microsoft-Pure alliance is no threat to the iPhone

Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff — 2009-11-19T04:09:19Z

Remember when Microsoft Corp. seemed unbeatable, like the New England Patriots with a 17-point lead?

More college-bound students express willingness to help pay burgeoning costs

Humberto Cruz — 2009-11-20T03:54:39Z

Listen up, parents, would-be parents, and grandparents who want to help: The best time to start saving for a child’s college education is as soon as Mommy is pregnant. The best way to do it is as a family, with the children contributing what they can.

Asia stocks mixed as figures on US economy awaited

Kelly Olsen, AP Business Writer — 2009-11-23T05:46:13Z

Asian stock markets were mixed Monday after a decline on Wall Street and as investors hunkered down ahead of a stream of figures that could confirm the U.S. economy is recovering at a slower pace. European shares were higher.

Shedding light on how the brain works

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff — 2009-11-23T03:07:38Z

More than two centuries ago, the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani found that electricity could make a dead frog’s leg kick, as if it were alive. Today, using the same basic principle but new tools, scientists are employing light to trigger brain cells - looking not for a kick, but for the origins of emotions, behaviors, and diseases in the brain.

Weak home building a drag on economic recovery

Alan Zibel and Martin Crutsinger, AP Business Writers — 2009-11-18T13:40:56Z

WASHINGTON -- The budding economic recovery isn't getting much help from the home-building industry, which normally creates jobs and drives growth when a recession ends.

From crumbling to chic

Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff — 2009-09-30T02:40:40Z

HAVERHILL - On the once-contaminated site of a decaying shoe factory, a thriving neighborhood is growing with the opening of hundreds of chic apartments, part of a renaissance in this Merrimack River mill city, which has seen plenty of hard times.

State jobless rate declines, bucking trend

Robert Gavin, Globe Staff — 2009-11-20T06:04:53Z

The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped last month for the first time in two years, and job losses slowed - signs the state’s beleaguered job market may be stabilizing.

The caring community

Maggie Jackson, Globe correspondent — 2008-11-09T05:00:00Z

WINCHESTER - Anne Lang, head of human resources at Winchester Hospital, pulls out a simple, black box and flips it open. Inside is a small but telling stack of reasons why this 229-bed community hospital is the state's top place to work.