|
|
Thursday, December 4, 2008
BUSINESS
|
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Oil tumbled below $44 a barrel Thursday and average gasoline prices slipped under $1.80 a gallon, both four year lows, as unemployment benefit claims hit a 26-year high and major companies announced more job cuts.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A period of relative calm on Wall Street ended Thursday as stocks tumbled in the final hour of trading on growing investor anxiety about the government's November employment report. WASHINGTON (AP) -- More evidence of consumers' weary state and the nation's deteriorating job market came Thursday with reports that people continuing to draw unemployment benefits climbed to a 26-year high, while retail sales and orders to U.S. factories sank. NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T Inc. joined the recession's parade of layoffs Thursday by announcing plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. automakers drew fresh skepticism from lawmakers Thursday in a rocky confrontation over their pleas for an expanded $34 billion rescue package they say they need to survive. Congressional analysts said one bailout plan under consideration would fall short of what the carmakers want. ROBERT — A $21 million training center expansion by energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC in Tangipahoa Parish mirrors what Louisiana must do to solve its work-force challenges, said Gov. Bobby Jindal. JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Entergy Corp. and its subsidiaries Tuesday, claiming the companies illegally manipulated the purchase and sale of electricity to maximize profits. Iberiabank Corp., the Lafayette-based parent of Iberiabank, has asked for a $90 million slice of the Treasury Department’s $700 billion bailout of the U.S. banking industry. Shortly after Executive Hotel Management LLC broke ground on a six-floor, 140-room Holiday Inn, Kathy Baker stumbled onto a novel dining concept for the company’s latest Baton Rouge hotel on Constitution Avenue. Oliver “Rick” Richard lectured on the political pitfalls, popular scapegoats and the difficult-to-get-cranking alternative fuel sector Tuesday at LSU. LONDON (AP) -- European stocks rose modestly Tuesday as hopes of a rebound on Wall Street - following the previous day's savage retreat - helped offset an overnight slump in Asian markets. TOKYO (AP) -- Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday following massive overnight losses on Wall Street and dismal economic numbers out of the U.S., a crucial export market. If you’re a young gamer hoping to get a job testing video games at Electronic Arts' new quality assurance center in Baton Rouge, C.D. Wright has a few things to tell you. First of all, it’s work. Actual work, like a job. Today’s Bayou Classic marks the 35th game between the Southern University and Grambling University football teams, but the event also marks a first for Baton Rouge-based Nerjyzed Game Studios: A national ad campaign coinciding with the Bayou Classic will introduce the Microsoft Xbox 360 version of the Nerjyzed video game, BCFx. That The Orvis Co. opened its 43rd retail store less than a week before Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge comes as more coincidence than a calculated strategy to cash in on day-after-Thanksgiving sales. A Baton Rouge appraiser who tracks the area apartment market said very low vacancy rates should persist through 2009, despite the addition of 5,000 units in the greater Baton Rouge market. A Baton Rouge appraiser who tracks the area apartment market said very low vacancy rates should persist through 2009, despite the addition of 5,000 units in the greater Baton Rouge Market. CHICAGO (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama pledged this morning to have an economic plan ready for action his first day in office and announced former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new White House panel to help create jobs and bring stability to the ailing financial system. Damage from hurricanes Ike and Gustav won’t be enough to significantly affect the Christmas tree business this holiday season, the LSU AgCenter said. The Louisiana Business & Technology Center will host its annual Residential Contractors Continuing Education Credits Course 4-8 p.m. on Dec. 18 at 8000 GSRI Ave. in LBTC Building 3000. Advance Games LLC, a Baton Rouge video game developer, has released Say-N-Play, a game that uses voice-recognition technology to help children practice their pronunciation. Louisiana rebounded from a hurricane-induced loss of 16,100 jobs in September to post a 5,000-job gain in October, but the state also is seeing its ranks of unemployed people rise. State sales tax collections rose slightly in October compared to the previous year. “There’s all the doom and gloom being preached … but we’re not down,” Byron Henderson, spokesman for the state revenue department, said Tuesday. Baton Rouge General Medical Center has moved its pediatric intensive care unit and its inpatient pediatric unit to the Bluebonnet campus, although the Mid City location will continue to treat pediatric emergency patients and do outpatient surgeries on children. Raleigh-based civil engineers Ko & Associates will absorb regional engineering and environmental services consultants Florence & Hutcheson Inc., which has offices in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge General has moved its Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and its Inpatient Pediatric Unit to the Bluebonnet campus, although the Mid-City location will continue to treat pediatric emergency patients and do outpatient surgeries on children. Advance Games LLC, a Baton Rouge-based video game developer, has released Say-N-Play, a game that uses voice-recognition technology to help children practice word pronunciation. The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, a state-created private not-for-profit, has created a health-care database that organizers say will lead to improvements in cost and patient care. Louisiana gained 5,000 jobs in October, the Louisiana Workforce Commission said this morning, after the state lost as many as 17,500 jobs in September. The 17,500 figure was based on federal seasonal adjustment models. The actual job loss for September was estimated at 4,500, but it came in a back-to-school month that usually sees the state post significant job gains. GEISMAR — The Ascension Economic Development Corp. has signed an option to purchase a 107-acre site in Geismar. GEISMAR — The Ascension Economic Development Corp. has signed an option to purchase a 107-acre site in Geismar for a business park. Mayor-President Kip Holden and a group of real estate agents, lenders and title attorneys showed a united front in a morning press conference, saying Baton Rouge’s real estate market remains strong and lending opportunities are robust. Heaven AM 1460 WXOK is back on the air today after Hurricane Gustav forced the gospel music station to stop broadcasting to undergo repairs. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rushing to rescue Citigroup, the government agreed to shoulder hundreds of billions of possible losses at the stricken bank and to plow a fresh $20 billion into the company. Regulators hope the dramatic action will bolster badly shaken confidence in the once mighty banking giant as well as the nation's financial system, a goal that so far has been elusive despite a flurry of government interventions to battle the worst global crisis since the 1930s. In January, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber will go after former Baton Rouge residents in major metropolitan centers of the South in a bid to bring back some of the state’s best and brightest. Work could begin before the end of the year on the $2 million renovation of the former Louisiana Office Supply building on Florida Boulevard, which will become home for the Louisiana Resource Center for Educators next summer. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber counts 2008 as its most successful year on an economic development scorecard it began using in 2006 following the realignment of its business development strategy. When Fiesta Linton brought her car in for an oil change at the Price LeBlanc Toyota dealership earlier this month, she had more than a dog-eared magazine to help her pass the time. Medicare patients in Louisiana are able to make changes to their Medicare prescription drug plans until Dec. 31. Kimberly Stephens has been named vice president and commercial loan officer at the Jefferson Highway location of MidSouth Bank. Three local nonprofit organizations have been awarded the Seal of Excellence from The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations. The board that oversees the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard approved a $2.2 million budget for 2009 that includes a pro-rated salary for a new chief executive and $200,000 for two strategic planning studies. The Shaw Group Inc. today announced its award of a U.S. Postal Services contract for architectural and engineering services at postal facilities in the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland areas. |
ADVERTISEMENTS
