Patriot facility sold

Patriot facility sold

NORTH JACKSON

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. of Bridge-ville, Pa., has completed the purchase of assets of the Patriot Special Metals Facility in North Jackson, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber announced Friday.

Universal is paying $104.5 million to buy the plant and is investing $25 million to complete equipment installation. It also will spend $6 million to add an electro slag re-melt furnace.

The company, which received a 60-percent property-tax abatement from the Mahoning County commissioners last week, expects to employ 100.

Job losses expected

COLUMBUS

Hundreds of home- weatherization jobs are expected to be lost in Ohio as federal stimulus money runs out for programs that help low-income and elderly Ohioans with home-energy improvements.

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies in Columbus told the state this week that agencies providing services for the Home Weatherization Assistance Program expect to lay off about 700 employees in the next six months.

Philip Cole, association executive director, says the expected layoffs will include crew workers and contractors working for weatherization providers across the state.

He says the jobs are expected to disappear with the last of $267 million in federal stimulus money that Ohio began receiving in June 2009.

The money was part of $5 billion allotted for weatherization under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Another high for gold

NEW YORK

Investors flocked to gold Friday, sending it to the latest of a series of records, as fears about recession in the world’s major economies infected financial markets.

The metal soared as high as $1,881.40 an ounce. It’s been on a tear this summer, rising more than 15 percent in August alone. In the same three weeks, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has fallen about 12 percent.

Gold logged its biggest weekly gain since February 2009, according to FactSet data.

As an investment, the metal has climbed because of investors’ concern about the uncertain state of the global economy, diving stock markets and moves by central banks around the world to weaken their currencies.

Ohio unemployment increased in July

COLUMBUS

The state says Ohio’s unemployment rate rose in July, the second-straight monthly increase after a two-year decline.

The Department of Job and Family Services says Ohio’s jobless rate increased to 9.0 percent last month, from 8.8 percent in June.

The state says the number of workers unemployed in Ohio in July was 529,000, up from 517,000 in June.

The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 9.1 percent, down slightly from 9.2 percent in June.

Staff/wire reports