County’s jobless rate increased in November
Spokane County’s unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in November from 6.7 percent in October, the state Employment Security Department reported.
Washington’s preliminary jobless rate last month was 6.2 percent statewide, up from 6 percent in October.
A second method for tracking nonfarm jobs shows Spokane County gained 700 jobs from October to November to 221,800. Most of the gains were in service jobs, including retail. The figures are preliminary and not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.
Spokane has gained 4,800 jobs in the past 12 months according to that report. Some 1,400 of those gains were in the category of professional and business services, while 1,300 jobs were added in education and health services. Retail trade lost 100 jobs in the past 12 months.
Injunction issued over medical pot delivery
LOS ANGELES – A judge has ordered a smartphone application that facilitates the delivery of medical marijuana to stop its activities in Los Angeles and to remove all reference to marijuana delivery within city limits.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien issued the preliminary injunction against Nestdrop on Tuesday, more than a year after City Attorney Mike Feuer first filed a complaint accusing the business of violating a voter-approved ballot measure, Proposition D, that banned medical marijuana delivery services in Los Angeles.
Nestdrop also offers the home delivery of alcohol, which will continue.
When it launched earlier this year, Nestdrop’s creators marketed the application as the nation’s first app-based, on-demand medical marijuana delivery service.
FDA OKs diabetes drug for weight loss
NEW YORK – The Food and Drug Administration has approved a Novo Nordisk diabetes drug as a treatment for obesity. It’s the first injectable drug approved for weight loss.
The drug, liraglutide, will be marketed under the brand name Saxenda for obese adults and for overweight adults who have weight-related health problems like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
The FDA approved liraglutide in 2010 as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk AS sells it under the name Victoza as a treatment for that condition.
Liraglutide is designed to spur the pancreas to create extra insulin after meals.
4,000 tech patents sold for $900 million
SAN FRANCISCO – A group led by Apple and Microsoft has sold about 4,000 technology patents to patent management company RPX Corp. for $900 million.
The deal announced Tuesday marks another shift in the ownership of a patent portfolio auctioned off in 2011 after telecommunications company Nortel Networks went bankrupt. Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony formed the Rockstar Consortium to buy the patents for $4.5 billion, outbidding Google Inc. for the rights to technology used in many mobile devices.
The Nortel portfolio initially consisted of about 6,000 patents, but Apple, Microsoft and the other members of Rockstar held on to 2,000 of them.
RPX, which is based in San Francisco, formed a subsidiary to manage the newly acquired patents and collect licensing payments from more than 30 companies, including Google.