|
Unemployment plummets: Alabama rate falls to 7.5 in November
Published: Friday, December 21, 2012
By Alex Walsh | awalsh@al.com
Alabama's unemployment rate for November was 7.5 percent, down sharply from October's revised rate of 8.1 percent, after seasonal adjustments, according to the Alabama Department of Labor's preliminary estimate.
Either an increase in employment or a decrease in the labor force can cause cuts to the unemployment rate. Both happened in November, the Alabama Department of Labor says: about 11,000 more Alabamians are employed as compared with October, and the labor force shrank by roughly 1,500.
The numbers look even better prior to seasonal adjustment: roughly 145,000 Alabamians were without jobs last month, the raw data show, down 25,000 from October.
Retail hiring in preparation for the holiday season appears to be helping. Retail trade employment grew by 3,700 jobs over the month, including 1,500 jobs added at department stores, nearly a nine percent gain for that sub-industry.
more...
|
|
Mobile County: commission approves incentives for Airbus supplier
By Michael Dumas, Press-Register
on December 20, 2012
Mobile, Alabama - The Mobile County Commission, during its Thursday meeting, approved to contribute $24,000 toward a trilateral compensation package to bring Airbus supplier Labinal Engineering Inc. to Mobile.
The contribution is part of $106,000 in incentives made to the engineering company by the city, county and state in recent weeks.
Labinal is a subsidiary of Safran Engineering Services, a France-based aerospace and defense firm. The company has said it will build a $2-million engineering center at the Brookley Aeroplex complex on the western shore of Mobile Bay, near the $600-million aircraft assembly plant Airbus plans to begin construction on in the spring.
more...
|
|
Daleville partners with economic development corporation
By Ebony Horton
Dec. 20, 2012
An economic development partnership between Ozark and Dale County became a bit larger this week.
The Daleville City Council approved investing $2 per capita into the Ozark Dale County Economic Development Corporation for assistance in bringing businesses and other potential assets to the city.
Daleville Mayor Claudia Wigglesworth said the funds, which would be estimated at $10,546 based on the U.S. Census' 2011 estimate of 5,273 residents, were already in the city's budget because of a previous partnership with the Enterprise Coffee Geneva Economic Development Corporation.
"We're excited about the opportunities we believe we have with (ODEC) to bring some businesses and highlight the assets we have here, which first of all are location," Wigglesworth said.
more...
[Dothan Eagle]
|
|
Pelham is best place to raise kids in Alabama, Businessweek reports
By Martin J. Reed | mreed@al.com on December 20, 2012
PELHAM, Alabama - A report released this week by Bloomberg Businessweek names Pelham as the best place to raise kids in Alabama for 2013 based on a variety of factors including education, safety and housing.
Pelham City Hall is the center of municipal government for the community that is Bloomberg Businessweek's 2013 best place to raise kids in Alabama.
"Businessweek teamed up with Bloomberg Rankings to evaluate more than 3,200 places nationwide with populations between 5,000 and 50,000," according to the report released Monday, available by clicking here.
"Public school performance and safety were weighed most heavily, and to gauge the local job market, we looked at median income and county-level unemployment. Other factors include housing costs, commute time, poverty, adults' educational attainment, share of households with children, and diversity," according to the analysis.
more...
[al.com]
|
|
Yahoo! names Gulf Shores one of 'America's Most Popular Attractions in 2012'
By Marc D. Anderson | manderson@al.com
on December 20, 2012
GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Web surfers cruising Yahoo! in search of vacation destinations across the U.S. like this Alabama beach city. In fact, Gulf Shores is sought out so much that Yahoo! Travel ranked it No. 7 in its top 10 travel destinations list, "America's Most Popular Attractions in 2012."
At the top of the list is Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. The remaining winners are as follows:
- 2. Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.
- 3. Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
- 4. Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Mo.
- 5. Golden Nugget Casino, Las Vegas
- 6. Hollywood, Calif.
- 7. Gulf Shores, Ala.
- 8. Universal Studios Hollywood
- 9. Atlantis Bahamas
- 10. Catalina Island off southern California's coast
more... [al.com] |
|
Manufacturing jobs making a comeback in southern U.S.
Michelle V. Rafter , NBC News contributor
12/20/2012
Apple CEO Tim Cook's announcement earlier this month that the company will start building Macs closer to home in 2013 was seen as a milestone that could help jump-start U.S. manufacturing.
But over the past few years, factories in the American South from the Carolinas to Alabama to Kentucky have already experienced such a rebirth.
Both U.S. and foreign companies have opened plants in southeastern states in recent years, many since the end of the recession. Others are expanding existing plants or have plans to break ground in 2013.
In South Carolina, Boeing builds 787 Dreamliners just north of Charleston, and Starbucks roasts coffee beans in St. Matthews, outside Columbia. General Electric is once again making water heaters and refrigerators at its gigantic Appliance Park plant in Louisville, Ky. A Mobile, Ala., shipyard run by Austal USA is growing so quickly that in the past two years the Australian company's workforce has swollen from 800 to 3,300.
more...
[nbcnews.com]
|
|
AT&T transferring jobs from North Carolina to Birmingham
Birmingham Business Journal
by Yann Ranaivo, Reporter
Date: Thursday, December 20, 2012
AT&T is transferring jobs from North Carolina to Birmingham as it consolidates a credit and collections call center.
Marty Richter, an AT&T (NYSE: T) spokesman, declined to reveal the exact number of jobs moving to Birmingham, but said the positions will move to its facility at 3196 U.S. 280.
"Virtually all of the affected employees in Greensboro either are being offered the opportunity to follow their work to Birmingham and a relocation allowance," he said. "Or they have a guarantee that they will be offered another job with the company."
The Greensboro facility's lease is expiring, and the Birmingham location is a larger center, Richter said. The consolidation aims to increase efficiency and improve customer service, he said. The Greensboro center will be closing in March.
more...
[Birmingham Business Journal]
|
Please feel free to forward along to someone who can use it by clicking on the "I'd like to forward this to a contact" link below the green bar. Note also, that you can now make changes to your e-mail address and contact information through the link at the bottom. If you have news or suggestions, please forward them along to me.
Enjoy the day,
Val Walton
|
|
