Teamsters to rally

Teamsters to rally

youngstown

Teamsters Local 377 will have a rally and leafleting event today at the headquarters of Exal Corp. at One Performance Place to stir up support and inform employees of its efforts to unionize 364 workers at the aluminum-can-making company.

The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. after the Local 377 filed a petition for a union election among Exal’s workers and filed charges against the company for what it called “labor-law violations.” The petition was filed earlier this week.

Mandel to visit

youngstown

State Treasurer Josh Mandel visits Youngstown today for a roundtable discussion with local business leaders. Mandel will arrive at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, 11 Central Tower, 17th floor, downtown Youngstown, to talk about the local and state economy with stakeholders from across the Mahoning Valley at 10 a.m.

New Samsung phone faces competition

new york

Samsung Electronics is taking to the Big Apple to reveal its next big challenge to Apple Inc.: a successor to its top-selling Galaxy S III smartphone.

The Korean company has rented New York’s Radio City Music Hall for an event this evening. The company has hinted that it will reveal the Galaxy S IV phone. Judging by the announcement of the S III last May, this means the new phone will be available in stores in a month or two.

In the last two years, Samsung has emerged as Apple’s main competitor in the high-end smartphone market. At the same time, it has sold enough inexpensive low-end phones to edge out Nokia Corp. as the world’s largest maker of phones.

NYC adopts jobless discrimination law

new york

New York City soon will have the nation’s most far-reaching laws barring employers from shunning out-of-work job applicants, after lawmakers passed the provisions Wednesday over a mayoral veto.

When the law takes effect in three months, the city will be the fourth place in the country with some form of legislation against discriminating against unemployed job-seekers. But it will be alone in letting applicants sue employers for damages over claims that they were rejected because of their joblessness.

US budget deficit jumps by $204B

washington

The U.S. federal budget deficit jumped in February from January, though it is still running well below last year’s pace. Higher taxes and an improving economy are expected to hold the annual deficit below $1 trillion for the first time since President Barack Obama took office.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the deficit grew in February by $203.5 billion.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the deficit will total $845 billion for the entire year. That would be down from $1.1 trillion in the 2012 budget year and the lowest since 2008.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .70, 30.11 —.11

Avalon Holdings,4.11.00

Clear Channel, .33 33.07 .05

Cortland Bancorp, 11.00.00

Farmers Nat., .126.64 .02

First Energy, 2.20, 41.30.13

FirstMerit Corp., .64,15.61 .13

First Niles Financial, .32,7.00.00

First Place Fin., .004.00

FNB Corp., .48,11.59.06

General Motors,28.07—.30

General Electric, .76,23.485.08

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .16, 7.47.09

JP Morgan Chase, 1.20,50.146—.13

Key Corp, .20,10.005.15

LaFarge, 17.33 —.17

Macy’s, .80, 42.12.35

Parker Hannifin, 1.72, 96.97—.08

PNC, 1.60,65.92.50

RTI Intl. Metals,30.52—.79

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,159.25—.27

Stoneridge 7.92 —.01

United Community Fin. 3.68.12

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