US job openings hit 13-year-plus high

US job openings hit 13-year-plus high

WASHINGTON

U.S. employers in June advertised the most monthly job openings in more than 13 years.

Employers posted 4.67 million jobs in June, up 2.1 percent from May’s total of 4.58 million, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The number of advertised openings was the highest since February 2001, a positive sign that points to a strengthening economy.

The report “provides further confirmation that the US labor market has indeed shifted to a period of stronger growth,” said Jeremy Schwartz, an analyst at the bank Credit Suisse.

Known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey or JOLTS, the report provides a detailed look at where employment might be heading.

Deadline nears for health care eligibility

washington

Hundreds of thousands of people who signed up under the new health care law risk losing their taxpayer-subsidized insurance unless they act quickly to resolve questions about their citizenship or immigration status. The government warned Tuesday that they have just over three weeks to show that they’re eligible.

Of the 8 million people who signed up for private coverage through President Barack Obama’s law, more than 2 million at one point had discrepancies of some sort that clouded their eligibility. That number has been greatly reduced — but the remaining cases are proving difficult to untangle.

People living in the country illegally are not allowed to get coverage. Officials at the Health and Human Services Department said letters are being sent to about 310,000 people with documentation issues involving citizenship or immigration.

The letters will notify enrollees with unresolved issues that they still need to upload their documents to the HealthCare.gov website by Sept. 5, or mail them in. Otherwise, their coverage will end Sept. 30.

Pfizer, 23andMe team up for study

WASHINGTON

Pfizer Inc. is teaming up with DNA testing company 23andMe to study the possible genetic underpinnings of inflammatory bowel disease, a hard-to-treat ailment that affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans.

Under the agreement, Silicon Valley-based 23andMe will map the DNA of 10,000 patients who have forms of the disease, which include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Patients will submit saliva samples using 23andMe’s at-home collection kit and then fill out online questionnaires about their disease and symptoms.

The companies hope to identify genetic similarities among patients with the disease, which could eventually guide development of new targeted drugs.

“Our research objective is to understand the genetic associations found between IBD patients’ DNA and their disease, and apply this understanding to Pfizer’s drug development efforts,” 23andMe said.

The cause of inflammatory bowel disease is unknown, though many scientists suspect genetics play a role. Other scientists believe problems are triggered by a virus or bacteria.

Vindicator wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .61, 24.03 .03

Avalon Holdings,4.320.00

Clear Channel, .61 21.95 .08

Cortland Bancorp, 12.70.20

Farmers Nat., .127.69 .05

First Energy, 2.20, 32.28—.13

FirstMerit Corp., .64,17.37 —.11

First Niles Financial, .32,9.000.00

FNB Corp., .48,12.02—.08

General Motors,33.70—.11

General Electric, .76,25.61—.18

Huntington Bank, .20, 9.60.13

JP Morgan Chase, 1.52,56.37.05

Key Corp, .22,13.10.05

LaFarge, 18.63 —.03

Macy’s, 1.00, 59.77—.36

Parker Hannifin, 1.80, 112.50.74

PNC, 1.76,81.83.13

RTI Intl. Metals,28.34—.08

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,167.25—.79

Stoneridge 11.11 .11

Talmer Bank, 13.56—.14

United Community Fin. 4.39—.14

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