Forbes ranks Valley low for finding jobs

Forbes ranks Valley low for finding jobs

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley has received yet another Forbes Magazine distinction. This one is nothing to get excited about.

Forbes ranked the best and worst cities for finding jobs, and the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region was the 13th-worst metropolitan area, tied with Bakersfield, Calif. Both metro areas had employment outlooks of 0 percent.

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., region ranked the worst. It had a -7 percent employment outlook. San Antonio, Texas, ranked the best and had a 17 percent employment outlook.

The list was compiled from statistics from employment services firm ManpowerGroup, which surveyed more than 18,000 employers in 100 metro areas.

Forbes this year has compiled lists that rank the Valley as the 14th most miserable metro area and the fifth fastest-growing industrial area. Last December, Forbes ranked Youngstown the fourth-best city for finding a job during the first three months of 2011.

The Valley’s unemployment rate in July, the last month available, was 10.3 percent.

European crisis

WROCLAW, Poland

The European Union’s 27 countries overcame a year of infighting to agree Friday to tougher budget rules that make it easier to punish overspending governments but failed to produce any new measures that might contain the debt-market turmoil threatening it.

Polish finance minister Jacek Rostowski said his EU counterparts approved the measures at their meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, where the officials were under international pressure to show some progress in their fight to contain the debt crisis.

Citi to raise checking fees

Citi is raising the monthly fee on its basic checking account.

The new fee will be $10, up from the previous $8.

At the same time, the bank said Friday that it will waive fees and offer bigger rewards if customers sign up for more services. The changes reflect a broader industry push to deepen relationships with customers and capture more of their business.

For example, Citi also said it will no longer give rewards points for debit-card purchases. But customers will be able to earn more points each month by opening a Citi savings account or setting up a feature that automatically transfers money into a savings account.

From wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .66, 21.93 .01

Avalon Holdings,2.57.04

Clear Channel, .65 52.69 —.20

Cortland Bancorp, 7.30.00

First Energy, 2.20, 45.43.63

FirstMerit Corp., .64,12.15 —.22

First Niles Financial, .32,7.99.64

First Place Fin., .95.09

FNB Corp., .48,9.07—.01

General Motors,22.61—.09

General Electric, .60,16.33.23

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 5.10—.03

JP Morgan Chase, 1.00,33.43—.38

Key Corp, .12,6.53—.01

LaFarge, 9.05 .00

Macy’s, .40, 27.74.26

Parker Hannifin, 1.48, 70.07—.52

PNC, 1.40,51.34.07

RTI Intl. Metals,25.23—.44

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,120.701.62

Stoneridge 7.06 —.30

United Community Fin. 1.09.03

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Friday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.