PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A food-processing company known for its frozen stuffed chicken products says it’s cutting 71 jobs at its Portland processing plant because product lines are being moved to another plant owned by its parent company. Barber Foods was acquired by AdvancePierre Foods, of Cincinnati, last spring. A few weeks later, the company […]
economy
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine gas prices keep going down; $3.50 on average
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s average gasoline prices are continuing their downward slide, but they’re still not as low as they were a year ago. MaineGasPrices.com says average retail gasoline prices in the state have fallen 0.8 cent per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.50 on Sunday. While that average is 23.2 cents per […]
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Posted inBusiness
Friendly’s restaurant has closed in Lewiston
LEWISTON — Friendly’s parent company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has closed 63 restaurants nationwide, including the one on Sabattus Street. Two others in Maine — on Main Street in Freeport and High Street in Ellsworth — also closed Tuesday night. The restaurants each employed about 20 people, said Friendly’s spokesman Rich […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, sj-web
Reporter query: Are you dealing with hunger?
As the economy continues to flag, more people don’t know where their next meal will come from. The Sun Journal is working on a story about hunger in Maine, and we’re looking for people dealing with the issue. If you are struggling to get food on the table and would be willing to be interviewed […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, sj-web
LePage: Plenty of jobs, not enough skills
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage gathered two dozen Maine employers from a broad cross-section of industries to the Blaine House on Friday to talk about strategies for improving the sluggish job market. The problem, the governor learned, is not a lack of jobs. The problem is that Maine’s labor force is not adequately skilled […]
Posted inNew England, sj-web
Fewer attending job sessions on N.H. federal prison
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — While residents in New Hampshire’s North Country await funding for the still-empty federal prison in Berlin, some are beginning to wonder if the prison and its much-needed jobs will ever become reality. Work on the 1,280-bed prison was completed last year and a warden has been hired. Officials had hoped to […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Dow plunges more than 634 points after downgrade; Tuesday starts with selling spree in Asia
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 634.76 points Monday, the first trading day since Standard & Poor’s downgraded American debt. It was the sixth-worst point decline for the Dow in the last 112 years and the worst drop since December 2008. Every stock in the S&P 500 index declined. But the S&P downgrade wasn’t the […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Going nowhere: Economy struggles to find footing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shoppers won’t shop. Companies won’t hire. The government won’t spend on economic stimulus — it’s cutting instead. And the Federal Reserve is reluctant to do anything more. Without much to invigorate growth, the economy may be in danger of slipping into a stupor like the one Japan has failed to shake off […]
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World, sj-web
Stocks continue to slide day after big sell-off
Indexes dove in early trading but recovered much of their losses by late morning. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36 points, recovering from an earlier loss of 166. Now that a default in U.S. debt has been averted, investors are becoming increasingly focused on the poor state of the U.S. economy. Shortly after […]
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World, sj-web
Revisions show deeper 2007-2009 recession
From the start of the recession at the end of 2007 to the end in June of 2009, the U.S. economy shrank 5.1 percent. That is 1 percentage point worse than the previous estimate that the recession reduced total output during that period by 4.1 percent. The new estimates emerged from the annual revision of […]