Mass. per-capita income rises to $49,082, 3d in US

Average per-person income in Massachusetts rose 6 percent in 2007, the eighth-largest rate in the nation, the Commerce Department said. Nationally, per capita income rose 5.2 percent. The state's per capita income increased to $49,082 from $46,299 in 2006. Massachusetts has the third-highest US per capita income, 27 percent above the national average of $38,611. Connecticut ranks first, at $54,117. Lousiana had the fastest income growth, 9.2 percent. The Commerce Department said professional services, healthcare, and finance contributed the most to income growth nationally over the past year. All are major employment sectors in Massachusetts. (Robert Gavin)

Boston is among 11 cities nationwide that have been selected by the Small Business Administration for a job-creation and business-expansion program aimed at inner-city entrepreneurs. Called Emerging 200, the program will help promising companies develop business strategies and attract capital. The 200 companies nationwide that will be selected will work with experienced mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections with banks and the private-equity community. Boston's participation will be formally disclosed today at Roxbury Community College. (Sacha Pfeiffer)

Biotechnology company Arqule Inc. said it received a payment from Wyeth for its early-stage work in developing a drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. Arqule said the payment was made in connection with Wyeth's filing of an FDA application for an experimental new drug. The Woburn company has agreements for royalty and milestone payments with several companies that are working to develop drugs derived from Arqule research. The value of the payment was not disclosed. (AP)

Delta Air Lines Inc. said it will start charging most passengers a fee to check in more than one suitcase to cope with rising fuel costs. Customers traveling on Delta's domestic flights (including to the US Virgin Islands and San Juan) on or after May 1 will pay $25 for a second checked bag, $80 each for the third through fifth, $110 each for the sixth, through eighth, and $180 each for the ninth and tenth. The fee kicks in on international flights for a third checked bag, which will cost $150, and rises to $300 for the sixth checked bag and to $600 for the ninth. Delta will waive the fees for first-class passengers and frequent flyers who have at least 25,000 miles annually in the airline's loyalty program. (Nicole Wong)

Adobe Systems Inc., the maker of the photo-editing software Photoshop, launched a basic version available for free online. Adobe says it hopes to boost its name recognition among a new generation of consumers who edit, store, and share photos online. While Photoshop is designed for trained professionals, Adobe says Photoshop Express, which it launched in a "beta" test version, is easier to learn. User comments will be taken into account for future upgrades. Photoshop Express will be completely Web-based so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system, and browser. And, once they register, users can get to their accounts from different computers. (AP)

The Food and Drug Administration said companies developing drug-coated stents should undertake new testing to identify the medicine used and show how it breaks up in the body. The tests need to be done before human trials start, the FDA said in draft guidance on its website. The agency also recommended longer human studies, larger safety databases, and continuing studies of patients after devices reach the market. Sales of Boston Scientific Corp.'s Taxus stent and Johnson & Johnson's Cypher, the first drug-coated stents sold in the United States, plunged about 30 percent in 2007 after studies said long-term use may lead to life-threatening blood clots. (Bloomberg News)

Netflix Inc., the largest US Internet movie-rental service, is giving some customers a 5 percent credit on their monthly statement after its website shut down unexpectedly for 11 hours on Monday. A spokesman declined to say what caused the system failure . . . Citigroup Inc. will pay $1.66 billion and give up an estimated $4.25 billion in claims to settle an Enron Corp. creditor lawsuit over its alleged role in the former energy trader's collapse. The bank is the last defendant in the 2003 suit, which seeks to hold Enron's lenders liable for the fraud that destroyed the company. (Globe wire services)