Fewer unemployment claims raise hope for job market in 2011
The Labor Department reports a sharp drop in initial unemployment claims to 388000 for the week ending December 25, with the four week average at 414000. Economists foresee modest job growth by spring, potentially 100000 to 150000 new jobs monthly, and a gradual unemployment rate decline from 9.8 percent to around 9.7 percent early next year, though rates may stay above 9 percent through 2011. Layoffs have fallen to pre recession levels, with 1.7 million laid off in October versus 2.6 million at the recession peak.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Labor Department
Conference Board
Kenneth Goldstein
Paul Kasriel
Northern Trust
Goldstein
Coalfields Expressway funding hopes fade near prison site
Mitchem and Browning discussed stalled federal funds for the Coalfields Expressway interchange near Welch and the King Coal Highway. They cited lost earmarks, urged future support from Senator Manchin and the West Virginia delegation, and tied prospects to a new federal highway reauthorization bill and possible $50 billion stimulus.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Federal
Welch
Mitchem
Rahall
West Virginia
Richard Browning
Wyoming
Inter
Browning
U.S
Joe Manchin
D-W.va
Obama
Industry and regulators face year of coal mine fatalities
The piece notes MSHA officials avoiding year-end death tolls while 2010 fatalities rise from gas blasts, moving equipment, and other risks. It cites the Upper Big Branch disaster, safety drives like Watch Out, and congressional rejection of tougher mine-safety measures as inspections and penalties ramp up. It also compares past decades' deaths, highlighting Kentucky, West Virginia, and other states.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
MSHA
Raulston
West Virginia
Sago
Congress
Upper Big Branch
U.S. House
Chris Hamilton
West Virginia Coal Association
House
Hamilton
Kentucky
Alabama
Illinois
Indiana
Montana
Diesel spill and court cases shade Bluefield news
A large diesel spill from a ruptured flex hose at Ammar's Inc. near College Avenue in Bluefield, Virginia, sent about 1,147 gallons into the Bluestone River, prompting cross state cleanup by WV and VA agencies and wildlife rescue efforts. Also noted are Bluefield's 200th Lemonade Day, the Heartland Corridor rail opening, Shrader's interstate stalking conviction, late 2000s murder arrests, a 2009 Diamond Land jewelry store robbery arrest, and local county commission race controversy over residency.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Joe G. Stacy
Richlands
Stacy
Bluestone River
Ammar'’s Inc
College Avenue
Bluefield
Sean Wyatt
Princeton Fire Department
West Virginia
Virginia Departments of Environmental Protection
Virginia Departments of Environmental Quality
Nemours
Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Department
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Three Rivers Avian Center
Fish and Wildlife
Bill Streit
All Creatures Great and Small Veterinary
Chicory Square
Chamber of Commerce
Eddie Steele
Virginia
Kentucky
Northfolk & Southern
Cowan
Radford
Heartland
Chicago
Ill
Thomas Creighton Shrader
Duhring
Shrader
Switchback Hollow
Christopher Bigelow
Carl Thompson Jr
Northfork
Eslam
Sammy” Mohammed
Egypt
Mohammed
Joy Foods Inc
Joy Food Mart
Bluefield Avenue
Bigelow
South Central
Charleston
Thompson
Southern
Beckley
Princeton
Juan Manresa Leyva
Hollywood
Fla
Diamond Land Jewelry
Diamond Land
Tennessee
Georgia
Maryland
Florida
Alabama
Leyva
Knoxville
Tenn
County Commission
Karen Dissibio
A. Gene Buckner
Mike Vinciguerra
Vinciguerra
Buckner
Agenmectonse
Jay Mills
Also Mentioned on This Page
McDowell
A-1
Eric DiNovo
Ragnarmgeree
Mirror of
Mercer County
America
The
Brave Brel
Images’of America” Books
Bill Archer
Bluefield, VA
McDowell County
Bramwell
Tazewell County
Mercer
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway
Wythe
Norfolk & Western Railway
Virginia Tech
Virginia Railway
Russell County
Big Stone Gap
Jewell Ridge
Coal Country
Blue Ridge Parkway
Southern Railway
Jim Davidson
Uct
Auaueertekyc Local Women’s Magazine
Pato
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