Gas prices drop

Gas prices drop

YOUNGSTOWN

Northeast Ohio gas prices are down 9 cents this week, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge report released Monday. The average price of gas is $1.89 per gallon. The national average continues to march toward $2 per gallon and has fallen for a record 123 consecutive days. The average price for a gallon of gas in Youngstown is $1.89.

Wick Towers grand opening

YOUNGSTOWN

NYO Property Group will have the grand opening of the more than 100-year-old Wick Towers, 34 W. Federal St., in June. The property will feature 52 renovated apartments and extended-stay living facilities.

Mortgage insurance premium rates fall

BOARDMAN

The Federal Housing Administration will lower mortgage-insurance premium rates for FHA loans to 0.85 percent, down from 1.35 percent.

This is beneficial for the Youngstown market, which is seeing an uptick in purchases with renovation loans, said Brandon Davis, branch manager of AmeriFirst Home Mortgage in Boardman. The home- mortgage lender recorded its best year in 2014, driven by its success with the FHA 203(k) Renovation Loan.

Firms optimistic on hiring, wages in 1Q

WASHINGTON

Rising sales helped boost hiring at U.S. businesses in the last three months of 2014, and companies are optimistic that continued improvement in business conditions will bring increased employment and wages in the current quarter, a new survey shows.

And many businesses expect the steep drop in oil prices in recent months to have a positive impact on them this year, according to the survey released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics.

Fifty-four percent of the 93 respondents to the quarterly survey said sales at their companies increased in the October-December period. That was up from 49 percent in the third quarter. As sales picked up, so did hiring. Thirty-four percent of companies responding said they hired more workers during the fourth quarter, about the same as in the second and third quarters.

Businesses said the outlook for the January-March period is strong.

Vindicator staff/wire reports