Briefcase

Idaho jobless rate surpasses U.S. level

Idaho’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent in December, pushing the share of people looking for work above the national rate for the first time in nine years, the state Department of Labor said Friday.

The state rate had matched the 9.4 percent for the U.S. in November, but employers laid off about 500 workers in December, and the labor force contracted slightly as about 400 workers either left the state or stopped looking for work.

The national rate remained at 9.4 percent in December.

The unemployment rate for the year averaged 9.2 percent.

Of Idaho’s 44 counties, only Oneida County in southeastern Idaho did not register an increase in average unemployment for 2010. The rate there fell to 5.3 percent from 5.7 percent.

In Kootenai County, the rate averaged 10.6 percent, compared with 9.1 percent in 2009. The rate in December fell to 10.5 percent from 10.9 percent in November.

The yearly average for Coeur d’Alene was 10.4 percent, for Post Falls 11.1 percent. At the end of December, the rates for those communities were 10.6 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

Bert Caldwell

Jiffy Lube shops open despite Chapter 11 filing

Sixteen Eastern Washington Jiffy Lube locations will continue to operate while their franchise owner moves through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization.

Nine of those stores are in Spokane or Liberty Lake. Others are in Clarkston, the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla.

The voluntary Chapter 11 filing occurred recently in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California; the franchisee is Tri-Cities Fast Lubes Inc., based in Santa Maria, Calif.  The company has two main partners: Sean Porcher in Santa Maria, and an operating partner in the Tri-Cities.

The franchise does not have any North Idaho shops.

Porcher said the Eastern Washington stores will not change hours and “will not be affected by this filing.”

He noted that a newly launched Spokane Rewards Program for customers has boosted business in the Spokane area.

An e-mail from Porcher noted the filing was triggered by “external business factors,” including the collapse of the credit market,  erosion of the overall economy, lease issues and “crippling supply agreements.”

Tom Sowa

Wheat export increase drives prices higher

Wheat prices are surging after export sales skyrocketed. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Friday that export sales of wheat totaled 1.05 million metric tons last week. It’s the highest level since August, when Russia banned wheat exports after a drought devastated much of its crop.

The increase in export sales is causing speculation that more buyers will be interested in U.S. wheat because of uncertainty about the effect that floods may have on Australia’s wheat crop.

The flooding crisis has cost Australia at least $2.5 billion in lost exports from the farming and mining industries. Farm produce, including fruit, vegetables, cotton and sorghum, will be cut by at least $500 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Associated Press

Google to begin local coupon service

New York – Google Inc., which has expanded beyond its core search operations into mobile phones and other products, is developing a local coupon service similar to Groupon.

Like Groupon Inc., the service, Google Offers, will offer time-limited deals from local vendors, such as restaurants. Ten dollars, for example, might buy $20 worth of food at a local cafe.

Google would not say when Offers would be available or provide any more details about its plans.

Associated Press