LOCAL

LOCAL
Employment rate drops
YOUNGSTOWN -- The unemployment rate in the Mahoning Valley increased from October to November, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Trumbull County had the highest jobless rate in the area at 7.9 percent, up from 7.8 percent in October. Mahoning County's rate in November was 7.6 percent, up from 7.2 percent in October. The largest jobless rate increase was in Columbiana County, where the percentage without jobs jumped from 6.8 percent in October to 7.5 percent in November. Youngstown's rate stood at 13.3 percent, up from 12.6 percent in October. Ohio's jobless rate was 6.5 percent last month compared to 6.4 percent in October.
New deli opens
GIRARD -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this week at Angelina's Deli Carry Out and Catering, 13 N. State Street. Owners are husband and wife, Mike Magazine, who has been a chef for more than 25 years (for a time at the Trumbull Country Club), and Angela Magazine. The business offers a deli-style carryout as well as complete catering services. Call (330) 545-3354 for information.
PENNSYLVANIA
Airline deal cuts salaries
PHILADELPHIA -- Most US Airways flight attendants would take a pay cut of 8.4 percent -- roughly half what the airline initially sought from their union -- under a tentative agreement that has been sent to union membership for ratification. US Airways and the Association of Flight Attendants began negotiations in the summer on a contract that the company said was essential to its survival. The flight attendants' union is the third major labor group and the sixth in all to reach a settlement on US Airways' demand for deep cuts in its labor costs, which the company says it must have to complete its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in just more than two years. US Airways' unionized employees have been working since late October under temporary contracts, mandated by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Mitchell, that slashed their pay and benefits by 21 percent. The company planned to ask Mitchell to make those cuts permanent for employees in unions that did not agree to new contracts. The 8.4 percent wage cut would apply to flight attendants with 14 years' seniority, which union leaders said was about 80 percent of the group. Those with less time on the job would take a 9 percent cut.
WORLD
Russia promises oil sale
MOSCOW -- Russia pledged on Friday to ignore a U.S. court ban on the looming auction of oil giant Yukos' key production unit, while a consortium of Western banks reportedly put on hold billions of dollars in credit for the state-run Russian gas company that was expected to buy the unit. A day after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark granted Yukos an injunction barring the Russian government from auctioning the Yuganskneftegaz unit, Russian officials said the ruling was irrelevant on Russian soil and promised the auction would go ahead on Sunday. "The sale of Yuganskneftegaz is an internal matter for Russia," Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said U.S. court decision would have no legal force in Russia, saying "someone wanted to drum up tension and put the investment climate in Russia in doubt." Lawyers and analysts have said there are no agreements between Russia and America that could make the decision enforceable on Russian soil. The Russian government planned to auction off Yuganskneftegaz to pay off some of the $28 billion in back taxes it says Yukos owes.
From Vindicator staff/wire reports