Idaho hiring rate hits prerecession levels

In a bit of good news for Idaho’s economy, employers in July hired 23,400 workers, which surpassed prerecession hiring for the first time since the downturn.

The state Labor Department’s monthly report based on employer filings of newly hired workers showed July’s total exceeded that of July 2007 by 500. The report covers hires for new jobs and vacancies in existing jobs.

During the height of the economic expansion in 2006, new hires averaged more than 30,000 a month in Idaho. During the worst of the downturn in 2010, they averaged under 14,000 a month.

Scott Maben

Ex-trader ‘Fabulous Fab’ found liable in SEC case

NEW YORK – A former Goldman Sachs trader who earned the nickname “Fabulous Fab” was found liable Thursday in a fraud case brought by federal regulators in response to the 2007 mortgage crisis that helped push the country into recession.

A jury reached the verdict at the civil trial in Manhattan federal court of Fabrice Tourre – a French-born Stanford graduate described by Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers as the face of “Wall Street greed.” Tourre’s attorneys portrayed him as a scapegoat in a downturn caused by larger economic forces.

Tourre, 34, was found liable in six of seven SEC fraud and other claims. He faces potential fines and a possible ban from the financial industry.

The SEC had accused Tourre of misleading institutional investors about subprime mortgage securities that he knew were doomed to fail, setting the stage for a valued Goldman hedge fund client, Paulson & Co. Inc., to secretly bet against the investment.

Associated Press

TransCanada set to build cross-continent pipeline

TORONTO – Pipeline company TransCanada said Thursday it will proceed with a $12 billion plan to pipe 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from Western Canada to the country’s Atlantic coast – moving enough oil to replace all imports in Eastern Canada and still have enough left for exporting crude overseas.

The announcement of the Energy East pipeline comes as TransCanada faces stiff environmental opposition to its proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to refineries in Texas. President Barack Obama’s initial rejection of Keystone XL went over badly in Canada.

The pipeline, the most expensive in TransCanada’s history, would run from Hardisty, Alberta, to Saint John, New Brunswick. It will end where a new deep-water marine terminal would be built by TransCanada and Irving Oil to handle the world’s largest crude-carrying vessels.

Associated Press