BUSINESS DIGEST || Dominion rate drops from last year

Dominion rate drops from last year

YOUNGSTOWN

Dominion East Ohio’s Standard Choice Offer rate for December is 53 percent lower than a year ago.

Effective next Friday, Dominion East Ohio’s standard choice offer/standard service offer rates will be $2.226 per thousand cubic feet (mcf).

The revised rates are 17.3 cents, or 8.4 percent higher than the November SCO/SSO rates of $2.053 per mcf. The revised rates are $2.486, or 53 percent, lower than the December 2014 SCO/SSO rates of $4.712 per mcf. Development of shale energy resources in Ohio and other states has led to lower national market prices for natural gas.

Little Beaver council gets $2,500 grant

SALEM

Dominion East Ohio and the nonprofit Western Reserve Land Conservancy have awarded a $2,500 grant to Little Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River Advisory Council in Salem for its Beaver Creek Stream Clean-Up project. The local grant is part of $35,000 awarded statewide in the inaugural Watershed Mini Grants program.

With support of the Dominion Foundation, the charitable arm of the natural gas utility’s parent company, Dominion Resources Inc., Western Reserve Land Conservancy has launched the mini grant program, patterned after a similar, Dominion-supported program in Pennsylvania.

Pa. board reports on casino revenue

HARRISBURG, PA.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Thursday released the amount of revenue generated from the play of slot machines at casinos during November.

According to the report, gross revenue from slot machines at the 12 casinos rose 2.23 percent in November this year to $187,540,869 compared with the $183,441,906 in gross revenue generated in November 2014.

Jobless claims rise, but still remain near historic lows

WASHINGTON

More people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, but the levels remain near historic lows that point toward a healthy job market.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for jobless aid rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 269,000. The less volatile four-week average was 269,250.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The low number suggests that employers are keeping workers and potentially adding staff in anticipation of continued economic growth.

Weekly filings have stayed below the key threshold of 300,000 since late March, which is usually associated with net monthly job gains in excess of 200,000.

The economy is expected to have added roughly 200,000 jobs in the November jobs report being released Friday.

Job growth reached its strongest pace of 2015 in October when employers hired 271,000 workers.

Staff/wire report