Gaston’s Freightliner plants will add nearly 700 jobs in coming months

The Gaston’s Freightliner Mount Holly plant will add a second shift and 250 employees Aug. 8, the United Auto Workers Local 5285 said Thursday.

That move will exhaust Mount Holly’s list of around 210 laid-off employees. The remaining jobs will go to people joining Freight-liner for the first time. In mid-September, the Mount Holly truck plant will hire another 200-plus, all of whom will be Freightliner first-timers.

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What in the World are They Talking About?

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Minnesota to get $3 million for foreclosure counseling

With high foreclosure rates plaguing communities across Minnesota and across the country, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced that over $3 million in federal funding will go to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (Minnesota Housing) to provide counseling to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure.

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A New Survey On The Economy Offers A Bit Of Optimism

By: Capital Spectator  | Jun 10, 2011 |

The economic news in recent weeks suggests that the recovery has hit a rough patch, but at least one forward-looking review of the macro trend says the rearview mirror may be misleading. The 35 economists in yesterday's update of the biannual Livingston Survey—the longest-running continuous set of predictions by dismal scientists—see moderately improving conditions in the second half of this year.

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E-waste law reaches a milestone: 1 billion pounds of computer junk recycled in California

Reporting from San Jose—

Mountains of broken TVs, obsolete computer monitors and outdated laptops that once piled up in California's garages, attics and basements have achieved a milestone.

The state's electronic-waste recycling program has reached its 1 billionth pound of unwanted electronics. That's more than any other state has recycled — and amounts to roughly 20 million TVs and computers kept out of landfills.

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U.S. exports in April reach all-time high

WASHINGTON — A Commerce Department report released Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in April as exports hit a new high and imports from Japan tumbled more than 25% after its earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

The trade gap narrowed 6.7% from March to $43.7 billion even though oil prices hit their highest level since September 2008. The data suggested stronger second-quarter economic growth than economists had expected.

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