edited by: Art Smith,
Iowa Editor
By PETER HUSSMANN
City of Newton officials, like the rest of the community, are attempting to discern the potential economic impact to Newton following this morning's unexpected announcement that Iowa Telecom will be sold to Little Rock, Ark.-based Windstream Corporation.
In a press release today, City Administrator Tom Wardlow states that city [...]
By PETER HUSSMANN
Jasper County's unemployment rate fell to 7.9 percent in October but still remains well ahead of the statewide average of 6.7 percent.
Iowa Workforce Development released local unemployment rate data today showing that Jasper County's jobless rate last month fell from September's rate of 8.1 percent and was well [...]
A dangerous illusion is that Iowa’s economy is healthy. Over the long-term, our jobs are being lost as businesses move jobs to lower-cost states. Wage growth, relative to the rest of the nation, has stagnated even as living costs rise – an economic situation known as [...]
The 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. The components [...]
Let the Conversation Begin: A Unified Approach to the Economic CrisisVice President Joe Biden took the offensive in defending the administration’s record, at a time when the Iowa Poll and other polls around the country show President Barack Obama’s job approval slipping.
He listed a number of accomplishments that appeal to various Democratic constituences, such as passage of a bill intended [...]
Vice President Joe Biden reminded an audience of Iowa Democrats tonight that change is not easy.
He said that President Barack Obama and he took office at a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans were losing their jobs and record numbers of homes were in foreclosure. Retirement savings were vanishing.
Beyond [...]
Newton Independent
Iowa's unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent in October from a revised September rate of 6.6 percent, Iowa Workforce Development announced today.
In releasing the new unemployment levels, Workforce officials note the Iowa economy continues to face significant challenges.
"Significant economic obstacles lie ahead for the state, and the October jobs'" [...]
Former Iowa State University wrestling coach Jim Gibbons and state Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, both announced intentions Thursday to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell in 2010.
Gibbons, who coached ISU to an NCAA championship in 1987, said he will leave his job at Wells Fargo Advisers to [...]
The union representing state troopers and game wardens has reached an agreement with the state aimed at saving 43 jobs, Gov. Chet Culver announced Tuesday.
The State Police Officers Council (SPOC) has agreed that its 640 members will take five furlough days during the remaining 7 months of [...]
Several news agencies are reporting that Recovery.gov, the Obama administration's Web site to track stimulus spending, has been calculating jobs created or *saved* in non-existent congressional districts.
Examples of the website either making things up or just being inept:
The site listed Minnesota receiving $400,000 in stimulus [...]
It’s saving or creating jobs in congressional districts that don’t even exist.
Wow, impressive. ABC News reports:
Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. [...]
About 55 state employees who are members of the Iowa United Professionals will be laid off because leaders of the labor union chose not to accept cuts in pay or benefits.
“We are disappointed that the union chose not to work with us and help save these jobs,” Erin Seidler, a [...]
Iowa utility companies should install more solar electric generating systems and create new jobs here, a state senator says.
Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, set a goal: install at least 7,000 kilowatts of solar electric generating systems over the next five years.
The Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha is getting 17 [...]
The latest Iowa Poll by The Des Moines Register finds Gov. Chet Culver losing to both former Gov. Terry Branstad and Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats in hypothetical head-to-head campaigns.
Culver’s job approval rating, at 40 percent, has hit the lowest point since taking office and has dropped 20-percentage-points since [...]
Iowa’s judicial branch will lay off 105 employees and cut another 100 vacant positions in addition to reducing hours of 58 employees, officials announced this afternoon.
However, the court will not abide by Gov. Chet Culver’s 10 percent across-the-board request.
Instead, the cuts amount to 7.1 percent of the court system’s $160 [...]
Federal stimulus for Medicaid has boosted jobs and incomes in Iowa while meeting the immediate health needs of vulnerable Iowans enduring a recession, researchers with the Iowa Fiscal Partnership reported today.
“Increased Medicaid spending has an economic benefit for the state of Iowa far greater than the federal government’s initial [...]
Scott Paul from Alliance for American Manufacturing says we are still exporting jobs...even with bailout money. Congressman Ron Paul says the medical reform package is legislative and economic malpractice. Plus the travail of educators trying to keep the lid on.
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