UCFC gives $16M to Home Savings
UCFC gives $16M to Home Savings
YOUNGSTOWN
After a $39.9 million stock offering in January, United Community Financial Corp., holding company of the Home Savings and Loan Co. of Youngstown, has appropriated $16 million to the bank.
The contribution was made to improve the bank’s capital position, which it believes soon will exceed the expectations of regulators by reaching above 9 percent at the end of the month. The move puts the bank in a stronger position because more capital means more leverage against any debt it incurs in the future, officials said.
In a statement filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, UCFC said it is retaining the remaining proceeds from the offering for “general corporate purposes, to grow its business and serve as a continuing source of strength to Home Savings as required by applicable laws and regulations.”
Jobless claims rise
WASHINGTON
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped by 16,000 last week, the second-straight weekly increase. But the longer-term trend in layoffs remained consistent with an improved job market.
Applications increased to a seasonally adjusted 357,000 for the week ending March 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s up from 341,000 the previous week, which was revised slightly higher.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 2,250 to 343,000.
Cypriots anxious
NICOSIA, Cyprus
Anxious Cypriots patiently waited in long lines to get at their accounts Thursday after banks opened for the first time in nearly two weeks, after an international bailout to save the country’s financial system.
Fearing a run on its banks, the tiny Mediterranean country has imposed daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses — the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone’s 14-year history.
Financial strains are building on families and businesses, and the recession in Cyprus is likely to deepen. The mood outside banks was calmer than feared. Many people said the withdrawal limits probably were necessary to keep a bad situation from spiraling out of control.
Vindicator staff/wire reports