REGION

REGION
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Unemployment rates in the Mahoning Valley edged up last month, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said.
The following are jobless rates for area counties: Mahoning, 6.2 percent, up from 5.8 percent in October; Trumbull, 6.1 percent, up from 5.5 percent in October; and Columbiana, 6.2 percent, up from 5.9 percent in October.
Youngstown's rate last month was 11 percent, up from 10.2 percent in October.
NATION
F.N.B. Corp. to create company from Fla. niche
NAPLES, Fla. -- F.N.B. Corp. said it is spinning off its Florida operations into a new company effective Jan. 1.
The board of directors declared Thursday that shareholders as of Dec. 26 will receive one share of stock in the new company for each F.N.B. share they own. The transaction still is subject to some regulatory approvals.
Stock in the new company, First National Bankshares of Florida, has been cleared for trading on the New York Stock Exchange. F.N.B. will retain the company's Pennsylvania and Ohio operations.
Thain is chief executiveof NY Stock Exchange
NEW YORK -- John A. Thain, chief operating officer and president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., was named chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Thain, will receive total annual compensation of $4 million. He replaces John S. Reed, who was brought to help reform the NYSE's governance after former chairman and CEO Richard Grasso resigned amid a furor over his $188 million pay package.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports