DC, Dallas, Boston lead in job growth

DC, Dallas, Boston lead in job growth

WASHINGTON

Jobs are hard to come by in every U.S. city, but you stand a better chance of getting hired if you live in Washington, Dallas or Boston.

Those three metropolitan areas topped the rest of the nation’s cities in jobs added in 2010.

And all three are home to industries that are poised to hire this year. Information- technology companies, biomedical research firms and government contractors are growing industries that are likely to add to their payrolls in the coming months — and the federal government has plenty of jobs listed, too.

The unemployment rate fell in 207 of the 372 largest metro areas in December, the most to report a decline since September. It rose in 122 areas and was the same in 43, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

Computers delayed because of chip flaw

SAN FRANCISCO

Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. are warning that some of their new computers are affected by a technical flaw in an Intel Corp. chip.

The problems were expected when Intel revealed the design error in one of its support chips Monday.

HP, the biggest personal- computer maker, says only a “small fraction” of its PCs sold since early January are affected, mostly consumer notebooks and desktops. One desktop-computer model sold to businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa also was affected.

HP has stopped making computers with the faulty Intel chip, and customers who bought the problem machines can get a refund or exchange.

Dell says four of its computer models are affected, along with several planned products.

Firms that cheated Pentagon got billions

WASHINGTON

Hundreds of defense companies that defrauded the U.S. military between 2007 and 2009 still received $285 billion in contracts from the Pentagon during the same period, a U.S. senator said Wednesday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the figures “shocking” and urged the Defense Department to take more- aggressive steps to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted at a time when the U.S. is running a $14 trillion national debt.

Dow ends mixed

NEW YORK

Stocks ended mixed Wednesday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level in 21/2 years.

The Dow traded in a tight range throughout the day as investors weighed the impact of unrest in Egypt against better-than-expected news on the job market.

Associated Press