By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff

Eric S. Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, on Wednesday made gloomy predictions for a slow economic recovery through the year, calling on policy makers to do more to lower the US unemployment rate. “I am expecting growth of only 2.3 percent for the full year, I’m sorry to say; and unfortunately no improvement in the current US unemployment rate of 8.1 percent,” Rosengren said in a speech in Worcester.

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick on Wednesday said the state must continue to support renewable energy businesses despite high profile failures of government-backed companies such as Evergreen Solar of Marlborough or California solar panel maker Solyndra.

“Let me tell you that I have heard enough about Evergreen -- or Solyndra for that matter. We are not always going to score. But we are never going to score if we don’t get in the game,” Patrick said in prepared remarks.

By Bloomberg News

Kayak Software Corp. is delaying its initial public offering following Facebook Inc.’s post-IPO tumble, according to a person close to the situation.

The online-travel service, which is based in Norwalk, Conn., but has operations in Concord, has postponed the roadshow for the offering, which was scheduled to start last week, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private. Morgan Stanley, the lead bank on Facebook’s initial share sale, also was hired to lead Kayak’s IPO.

By Globe Staff

WGBH in Boston said Wednesday it has reached agreement with its largest union on a contract identical to one that managers imposed last year, after declaring that years-long negotiations had come to a standstill.

The new contract matches a deal that the public broadcasting outlet’s managers described as their final offer in March 2011, and is effective immediately, according to WGBH vice president of communications Jeanne Hopkins.

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

The long-time chief investment officer for the $50 billion Massachusetts state pension fund, Stanley P. Mavromates Jr., is leaving for a private sector job, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Mavromates, 51, joined the pension fund in 2000 and has been a hands-on overseer of the state’s retirement assets since becoming investment chief in 2005. He has been a key voice at pension board meetings, during which he detailed the fund’s performance.

By Michael B. Farrell, Globe Staff

Verizon Communications Inc.’s FiOS Internet service is set to get even faster. The company said Wednesday that it will double the top speed available to subscribers to its premium FiOS broadband service, due to growing demand for video content over the Web.

The increase doubles Verizon’s fastest available service to 300 megabits per second -- a rate the company said is more than twice the speed of any Internet service available to residential customers in the US.

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

Mintz Levin Financial Advisors, the investment management arm of the Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, has agreed to be acquired by Focus Financial Partners of New York, the firms said Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mintz Levin Financial manages more than $1 billion for wealthy families and individuals. Under the deal, the group will become part of Focus’s Boston operation, called the Colony Group. Together, Mintz and Colony will have $2.5 billion in assets.

By Gail Waterhouse, Globe Correspondent

A web-based service launched on Wednesday is designed to help potential donors navigate the world of charitable organizations in the Massachusetts, to inform decisions about where and how to make contributions.

With more than 23,000 nonprofits in the state, according to the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Giving Common offers profiles of 300 charities to allow “donors to discover, learn about, and donate to local nonprofits,” according to the nonprofit philanthropy Boston Foundation, which established the website.

By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

The software security firm Veracode Inc. is the latest company to sign a deal to move into the office campus at Northwest Park in Burlington.

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff

Harvard University economist Jeremy C. Stein, an advocate for tougher financial reform, was sworn in as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Wednesday in Washington. The oath of office was administered by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Stein, who supported government intervention that helped US banks survive the financial crisis but later criticized aspects of the bailout, was nominated to serve on the board by President Obama in December

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

China’s Supreme People’s Court has accepted an appeal filed by AMSC, a Devens-based maker of wind turbine control systems that is suing a Beijing company over allegations that it stole the Massachusetts firms intellectual property. AMSC is pursuing four suits in China against Sinovel Wind Group Co., China’s largest wind turbine maker and once AMSC’s largest customer.

By Gail Waterhouse, Globe Correspondent

After their family home in Monson was hit by the tornadoes last June, Caitria O’Neill and her sister Morgan decided to launch Recovers.org, a website platform for towns needing to rebuild after disasters.

Now recovers.org is one of 125 finalists revealed Tuesday by MassChallenge, the Boston-based nonprofit that offers more than $1 million in annual prizes and services to promising start-ups from all over the world.

“We’re trying to start a business, but we’re not business people,” Caitria O’Neill said.

By The Associated Press

Curt Schilling is blaming Rhode Island economic development officials and the governor for much of the financial troubles facing his video game company.

By Bloomberg News

The US Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to rein in rising prosthetic costs by shifting responsibility for ordering some prosthetics, including artificial limbs, from medical personnel to contracting staff. It’s also requiring more documentation on the spending. The changes are designed to reduce prosthetic costs, which have jumped 80 percent in the past four years, according to the VA inspector general.

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

Tom Finneran, the disgraced former Massachusetts House speaker who was hired by WRKO-AM as a morning talk show host is leaving the radio station after five years, he and station officials said Tuesday. In 2007, Finneran pleaded guilty to lying under oath during a racially-charged voter redistricting case, forcing him to leave the Legislature. Finneran’s parting with WKRO appears to be amicable, with his last day schedule for Thursday. His co-host, Todd Feinburg, will continue to host the program solo.

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

The board of the Massachusetts state pension fund, which has $60 million invested in Walmart Stores Inc. stock, voted against the re-election of seven corporate directors at the giant retailer. State officials said some of the directors, “were deemed too closely associated” with an alleged bribery scandal involving the permitting of Walmart stores in Mexico. The $50 billion Massachusetts pension fund has sometime taken such activist positions under Treasurer Steven Grossman, who is its chairman.

By Associated Press

Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP is buying steakhouse operator Fogo de Chao Churrascaria LLC from GP Investments for an undisclosed sum. Privately held Fogo, founded in 1979 in Southern Brazil and now based in Dallas, has 18 restaurants in the U.S. and seven in Brazil.

By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff

Massachusetts foreclosure activity increased in April as lenders moved to deal with delinquent loans, according to a report released Tuesday by the Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate. The number of petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process, rose to 1,750, a 47 percent increase from last April, and the highest level in nearly two years, the Warren Group said. The number of finalized foreclosures jumped to 714 in April, 19 percent more than in April 2011.

By The Associated Press

Gas prices are down in Massachusetts for the sixth consecutive week. AAA Southern New England reports Tuesday that the cost of a gallon of self-serve, regular dropped four cents in the past week to an average of $3.61.

By Associated Press

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate for April remains the highest in New England and significantly above the regional average. The New England office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the regional rate was 6.9 percent in April, compared to 11.2 percent for Rhode Island. The national average in April was 8.1 percent.