BUSINESS DIGEST || InfoCision looks to hire 600 workers

InfoCision looks to hire 600 workers

youngstown

InfoCision Management Corp., an Akron-based telemarketing firm, is looking to hire 600 workers at its locations throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including its locations in Austintown and Boardman. To help fill the positions, InfoCision is hosting a company-wide hiring event from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at 5740 Interstate Boulevard in Austintown or at 8530 Crossroads Drive in Boardman.

Applicants can interview on the spot with no appointment. For specific information on employment with InfoCision, applicants should call 888-462-7298, ext. 30, or visit InfoCision’s online careers page at www.infocision.com/careers.

Stocks end week with a decline

The budget fight may be happening in Washington, but it is investors on Wall Street who keep getting smacked.

Stocks fell Friday for the sixth day out of the past seven and ended the week with a decline. Investors focused on the risk that the government could shut down Tuesday unless Congress agrees to a new spending bill. And even if that hurdle is cleared, the dispute is poised to continue into the middle of October as legislators debate raising the nation’s borrowing limit.

There were a lot of moving parts for investors to keep track of Friday. The U.S. Senate approved a spending bill that is already considered dead in the House of Representatives, where Republicans want changes to President Barack Obama’s health care law. Obama spoke on live television during the closing minutes of trading. And investors braced for the possibility that when markets reopen Monday, none of this will have been resolved, even though the House will be in session over the weekend.

FAA to weigh easing limits on electronic devices on planes

WASHINGTON

With the blessing of an influential advisory panel, federal regulators are closer to letting airline passengers use their smartphones, tablets, e-readers and other electronic gadgets during takeoffs and landings.

The 28-member FAA advisory committee voted to recommend the change during a closed-door meeting Thursday, said industry officials familiar with the deliberations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the government asked them not to talk publicly about their deliberations.

The recommendation will be sent Monday to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has final say on whether to ease current restrictions on the use of personal electronic devices on planes.

Gas prices down

NEW YORK

Gasoline prices have fallen steadily throughout September, and drivers can look forward to even cheaper fill-ups in the weeks ahead, experts say. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.42, down from $3.59 on Sept. 1. And the price is 38 cents cheaper than at this time last year, when unexpected refinery outages curtailed production.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .61, 24.41 —.21

Avalon Holdings,5.40.0299

Clear Channel, .61 26.48 —.10

Cortland Bancorp, 9.50.00

Farmers Nat., .126.20 —.06

First Energy, 2.20, 36.59—.35

FirstMerit Corp., .64,21.48 .09

First Niles Financial, .32,7.00.00

First Place Fin., .0016.00

FNB Corp., .48,12.08.02

General Motors,36.360001—.59

General Electric, .76,24.03—.22

Motors Liquidation, .0422.00

Huntington Bank, .20, 8.22—.05

JP Morgan Chase, 1.52,52.24.35

Key Corp, .22,11.35.01

LaFarge, 17.59 —.14

Macy’s, 1.00, 43.514999.1950

Parker Hannifin, 1.80, 108.94—.98

PNC, 1.76,72.63.19

RTI Intl. Metals,32.00.06

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,150.18—1.09

Stoneridge 11.11 —.03

United Community Fin. 3.82—.01

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.