Officials offer millworkers help

The Idaho Department of Labor will meet Saturday with Bonner County millworkers losing their jobs from the closing of the JD Lumber sawmill in Priest River. Officials will share information about unemployment insurance, employment services, retraining opportunities and employee rights.

The orientation session will be noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Priest River High School cafeteria. A second session is planned for Aug. 20, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., in the high school cafeteria.

The company said it will shut down the mill at the end of September and dismiss all 216 employees Oct. 3.

The company is selling the mill to Riley Creek Lumber, which said the mill’s future would be assessed next spring. Riley Creek said it may hire up to 70 JD Lumber employees for its mills in Laclede, Moyie Springs and Chilco.

As many as 20 workers have found new jobs, but at least 125 will be left without work when the mill closes.

WASHINGTON

Foreclosures jump 55 percent

The number of homeowners stung by the dramatic decline in the U.S. housing market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Thursday.

Nationwide, more than 272,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in July, up 55 percent from about 175,000 in the same month last year and up 8 percent from June, RealtyTrac Inc. said. That means one in every 464 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month.

RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. More than 77,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in July.

NEW YORK

EMarketer lowers spending target

Researcher eMarketer is sharply reducing its spending projections for online video advertising, saying the market hasn’t met expectations.

Estimates that eMarketer expects to release today show U.S. spending for online video advertising at $505 million in 2008, down from the $1.35 billion figure the firm circulated earlier.

EMarketer still expects the market to grow in coming years, hitting $1.9 billion in 2011. But that is well below the $4.3 billion it had projected last summer for that year.

From staff and wire reports