ECONOMY NEWS
The federal agency will have to cash in some IOUs to make payments.
The city of Atlanta says it will spend thousands to replace the grates on the roads.
The plant in south Bibb County employed about 200 people when it opened in July 2007; now it has about half that.
The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen
states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five
months.
New job numbers are out for January and Hancock ranks worst in the state with 23.5 percent unemployment.
The Bibb County Board of Education voted 6 to 2 Tuesday increase property taxes by 5.9 percent this year.
Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they
have in such accounts in a step that may become a common move ahead of
new regulations limiting overdraft fees.
College students on more than 100 campuses nationwide plan walkouts,
rallies and other actions Thursday to protest budget cuts, layoffs and
tuition increases, which they say erode quality of education and limit
access.
Disabled people and veterans also would have been eligible for the payments.
Macon State College administrators say further state budget cuts could change the way the school operates, offering fewer summer course options and capping student enrollment.
The economic recovery effort has not slowed consumer bankruptcy filings. They surged 14% in February compared with a year earlier, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Officials at Atlanta's MARTA transit system say lower sales tax revenues and a big budget deficit are making substantial reductions in service necessary.
The U.S. Postal Service will move this month toward reducing mail delivery from six days a week to five, a change Postmaster General John Potter has said is critical to reducing its massive debt.
It's hard to find a job in this economy, and now some people are facing another hurdle because potential employers are holding their credit histories against them.
The skyrocketing cost of chicken wings is causing restaurant and tavern
owners to raise menu prices and threatening to put some out of business.
Vice President predicts the
U.S. economy will begin churning out 100,000 to 200,000 jobs a month by summer.
A program that encourages companies to avoid layoffs by reducing
workers' hours could be expanded to nearly half the states this year.
While most of the job market continued to rebound in January, the
construction industry remained mired in its worst downturn since the
Great Depression.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is offering no clues as to when interest rates may be increased.
While eateries such as T.G.I. Friday's have long offered Happy
Hour-type deals, some of the category's upper echelon have recently
latched onto Happy Hours as a way to court new business from a
recession-weary public that's eating out less.
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