INSURANCE
Liberty Mutual sells two Back Bay buildings for $673 million
Liberty Mutual has sold two of its Back Bay office towers for $673 million to a Japanese investment firm, the Boston-based insurance company announced on Thursday. Toyko-based Mori Trust Co., Ltd is expanding its real estate holdings in the United States and bought Liberty’s 10 St. James Ave. and 75 Arlington St. buildings as part of the move. Mori Trust Group owns 124 properties, including offices, hotels, and residences, primarily in central Tokyo. Liberty Mutual put the buildings up for sale in September 2016. The home, auto, and workers’ compensation insurance company had already moved many of its workers from those buildings to the new $300 million tower it built with public aid at 157 Berkeley St. in 2013. Liberty Mutual has said that it will continue to lease space in the James Avenue and Arlington Street buildings. The buildings sold for more than expected. Boston real-estate experts had pegged the price of the buildings at around $650 million.
— DEIRDRE FERNANDES
TRANSPORTATION
Zipcar has a new chief
Zipcar has a new leader, who will move from the world of travel tech to transportation tech. Tracey Zhen is joining Zipcar from TripAdvisor, where she had been a vice president and general manager. She oversaw the Needham-based company’s vacation rental services, which compete with Airbnb and Homeaway to let travelers rent others’ homes for short periods. At Zipcar, Zhen will now direct a company that allows its urban users to rent cars for a few hours at a time. About 500 employees will answer to Zhen, according to Zipcar spokeswoman Lindsay Wester. She was recruited through an executive search firm over a six-month period, Wester said. Headquartered in Boston, Zipcar has been owned by the global car rental company Avis Budget Group since 2013. Zhen replaces Kaye Ceille, who left Zipcar in July to work as managing director for Avis Budget in Australia and New Zealand. — ADAM VACCARO
HEALTH CARE
Arcadia Healthcare Solutions raises $30m from investors
A Burlington-based health care data company, Arcadia Healthcare Solutions, has raised $30 million from investors. The funding comes from the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and GE Ventures, as well as three existing investors: Peloton Equity, Zaffre Investments, and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners. Arcadia crunches medical data for its customers, which include health insurers, physician practices, and other health care organizations. The ability to analyze data is becoming increasingly important in the health care industry as doctors and hospitals adopt new payment systems that encourage them to monitor and improve patients’ health while controlling expenses. Arcadia has about 250 employees, including 140 in Massachusetts. The company, founded in 2002, also raised $13 million from investors in 2015. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
FINANCE
Corzine fined $5m, banned from commodities trading
Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor who led the collapsed brokerage MF Global, has been ordered to pay a $5 million penalty for his role in the firm’s alleged illegal use of almost $1 billion in customer funds. A federal court in Manhattan on Thursday granted the order against Corzine to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which brought civil charges against him in 2013. Following the stunning collapse of the big Wall Street firm in late 2011, the CFTC alleged that MF Global misused customer funds in a vain attempt to remain solvent. Corzine was banned by the court order from serving as an official or employee of any commodities trading firm and from trading commodities and other investments regulated by the CFTC. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
MORTGAGES
Rates fall after nine weeks of increases
After nine straight weeks of increases, long-term US mortgage rates fell this week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans declined to an average 4.20 percent from 4.32 percent last week. That was still sharply higher than a 30-year rate that averaged 3.65 percent for all of 2016, the lowest level recorded from records going back to 1971. A year ago, the benchmark rate stood at 3.97 percent. The average for a 15-year mortgage eased to 3.44 percent from 3.55 percent last week. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
ECONOMY
Companies added 153,000 jobs last month
US companies reported a modest gain of 153,000 jobs last month, all in service industries such as retail and health care. The report provided the latest evidence of the economy’s transition away from manufacturing and other blue-collar work. Payroll provider ADP said Thursday that hotels and restaurants added 18,000 jobs in December, while higher-paying professional and business services, such as engineering, added 24,000. Manufacturers lost 9,000 jobs and construction firms shed 2,000. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
FAST FOOD
Wendy’s accused of using racist meme
Just days after winning kudos on social media for its witty handling of an Internet troll, the Wendy’s Twitter account has been the subject of criticism for tweeting what some say is a racist meme. Wendy’s responded to a Twitter user’s request for memes Wednesday by tweeting a picture of the cartoon character Pepe the Frog made to look like the famous Wendy’s mascot of a girl with red hair in pigtails. Pepe was initially an Internet meme that had no racial overtones, but it has since been appropriated by white supremacists on social media. Wendy’s quickly deleted the post and tweeted that its ‘‘community manager was unaware of the recent evolution of the Pepe meme’s meaning.’’ — ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNEMPLOYMENT
Number seeking aid falls sharply
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped significantly last week, a sign of a robust job market. Weekly requests for jobless aid fell 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 235,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That is barely above the 233,000 jobless claims achieved in late November, the lowest weekly total since 1973. The less volatile four-week moving average for claims fell 5,750 to 256,750. During the past 12 months, the number of people receiving benefits has tumbled 5 percent to 2.1 million.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOOKSTORES
Barnes & Noble sales fall as coloring book craze fizzles
Barnes & Noble Inc. posted its first decline in holiday sales in three years, hurt by a downturn in the coloring-book category, bringing another sign that the Christmas season wasn’t kind to retailers. Same-store sales sank 9.1 percent for the nine-week holiday period, the New York-based company said on Thursday. Coloring books and other art supplies — products that had surged last year in part because adults were embracing them — were particularly weak. Still, Barnes & Noble expects to bolster its operating profit by keeping a tight lid on expenses. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
BOOKSTORES
Amazon to open bookshop in Manhattan
Amazon.com Inc. is taking its brick-and-mortar bookstores to New York, with plans to open a location in a prime Manhattan shopping center. The store will open later this year in Related Co.’s Shops at Columbus Circle, Amazon said in an e-mailed statement. The tony shopping center is part of the Time Warner Center complex, just steps from Central Park. The online retail giant opened its first physical bookstore in Seattle in 2015 and has since opened two more, in California and Oregon. Locations in Dedham and Chicago are in the works too, according to the company’s website. — BLOOMBERG NEWS