On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed workers fell in January to the lowest levels since 2009. The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January, beating economists’ expectations and continuing the trend of positive economic data that began in the fourth quarter of 2011. The unemployment rate dropped from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent. “All in all, a solid jobs report that is supportive of ongoing income and spending growth and improvement in business and consumer sentiment,” said Robert Dye, a Comerica Bank economist...

As the U.S. economy -- and that of global markets -- continues to reel from the Great Recession, many lending institutions still are struggling to regain their footing. In the past three years alone, 389 banks have failed, including 90 in 2011, according to New York-based Invictus Consulting Group LLC. Note: Click here for database of all 389 bank failures since 2001. Of those, four were Ohio-based banks, including Peoples Community Bank in West Chester, which closed in July 2009, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data...

As many as 17 Ohio banks could close or fail within the next two years without corrective action or a merger occurring, according to New York-based Invictus Consulting Group LLC, which completed stress and sustainability tests on all banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. More than 750 banks nationwide are at risk of failing in the next several years, which could further extend the financial crisis, according to the report. Of the 231 financial institutions in the Buckeye State, 17, or 7...

Stock ownership by members of Congress has been an issue recently after several media reports that were critical of what some viewed as politicians capitalizing on inside information about the financial crisis, including a featured report on CBS news program "60 Minutes." Just this week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called his peers in the Senate to be forbidden from owning individual stocks, saying it creates conflict of interest on several issues. Brown has reportedly sold all of his individual stock already...

There was a big shakeup at the top of the banking brand rankings released this past week, which included several of the top banks in the Dayton region. Wells Fargo & Co. jumped ahead of Bank of America for the second spot on Brand Finance's Banking 500, a list of the best global banking brands in 2012, which was released Feb. 1. Note: Click here for the Top 25 bank brands in America. The value of the 500 banking brands this year was down nearly $100 billion to a total of $746.7 billion, which is equivalent to the GDP of Turkey, according to the report...

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued banking’s Big Three -- J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo -- on Friday over their use of an electronic mortgage database that played a key role in financing the nation’s historic housing bubble. Schneiderman, who gained additional clout last month when President Obama named him co-chairman of a new federal mortgage-crisis unit, filed suit against Bank of America, (NYSE: BAC) Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) in New York State Supreme Court...

A lawsuit filed by Seattle-based Shim Law Firm in King County Superior Court in late January accuses Seattle's Pacific International Bank of aiding an admitted thief in embezzling $322,136 worth of checks from the firm. Paul Sabado, interim chief executive at P.I. Bank said in an email he didn't have a comment at this time. According to the complaint, P.I. Bank cashed checks from an employee of the law firm that was part of a scheme by the employee to embezzle money. The suit says that employee, Veronica Pak, was charged with 105 counts of theft in King County Superior Court last fall as a result of the scheme and pleaded guilty to the charges...

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. Chief Financial Officer Bennett Nussbaum will lead the integration of the grocer with Bi-Lo Holding LLC, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Nussbaum’s new role will be to lead the integration of the two companies into one. Brian Carney, the CFO of Bi-Lo, will be the CFO of the newly combined company. Nussbaum joined Winn-Dixie in 2004 after being an executive with Burger King Corp. In December, Winn-Dixie(Nasdaq: WINN), which is based in Jacksonville and has 480 stores, announced plans to merge with the smaller, privately owned South Carolina grocer Bi-Lo to create a 690-unit chain...

Representatives of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will be in Tampa to talk with small business owners about obtaining financing. The Feb. 24 workshop, “The State of Small Business in Tampa,” was initiated by Tampa City Council Member Lisa Montelione after hearing small business owners talk about their efforts to get credit. The workshop, which will include interactive panel discussions, is an attempt to resolve what appears to be a disconnect, with businesses saying they can’t get credit from a bank, and bankers saying they are lending, Montelione said...

Innovative Solutions & Support Inc. said Friday its board of directors has authorized it to buy back up to 1 million shares of its common stock. The repurchase program runs until Feb. 10, 2013, and replaces the company’s previous one, which was to have expired in a week. IS&S (NASDAQ:ISSC) expects the money from the program to come from available corporate funds, including cash on hand and future cash flow. The Exton, Pa., company makes flight-information monitoring and display systems. Its press release on the repurchase program is here.

The DOW finished Friday at its highest mark, 12,836, since 2008 while the NASDAQ achieved trading levels last recorded in December 2000. Market analysts credited the DOW’s 131 point jump to the drop in the nation’s unemployment rate and the higher number of workers hired. The federal Labor Department said today that January’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent as companies hired 243,000 workers in January, a number higher “than even the highest forecast,” noted Lawrence Creatura, an equity portfolio manager at Federated Investors, in a report on the Yahoo! Finance website by the Associated Press...

Bank of America said today that Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans, will retire “in February,” marking the departure of the bank’s highest-ranking executive from the former BankAmerica that was based in San Francisco. Desoer told the Wall Street Journal that it was her decision to leave. “I have given it my all,” she told the newspaper. The 59-year-old Desoer hasn’t ruled out a return to financial services. No specific date has yet been set for her departure this month, a BofA spokesman said...

BB&T Corp. has plans to buy the life insurance and property and casualty insurance divisions of New Jersey-based Crump Group Inc. for $570 million, according to an announcement. BB&T (NYSE: BBT) expects the deal to add $300 million in revenue to its insurance business. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. If approved, it would the top independent wholesale distributor of life insurance in U.S. Wade Reece, chairman and chief executive of BB&T’s insurance business, said the acquisition will give BB&T the opportunity to be a strategic player in the high-growth, high-margin life insurance distribution business...

Wake County tax collectors targeting Harold Lichtin’s Wade buildings in west Raleigh were able to collect on about 40 percent of his nearly $300,000 unpaid tax bill through a rent levy before Lichtin’s bankruptcy petition was filed on Feb. 2. And, at least for now, it looks like the county will get to keep that money, says Marcus Kinrade, Wake County’s revenue director. “If the bankruptcy court orders us to return his money, we will obviously comply,” he says. Wake County had ordered on Jan...

Eight layers of government assistance is enough. That was the message Friday from Bob Weeks, chairman of Tax Fairness for All Wichitans, as he spoke against what he calls a ninth layer — one to rebate 75 percent of the guest taxes collected at the Ambassador Hotel back to its developers for 15 years. His group urges a “no” vote on the issue Feb. 28. Among the other eight layers that Weeks referred to were tax credits, tax-increment financing and sales-tax exemptions. Tax Fairness for All Wichitans spells out its opposition to the incentives at www...

Amazon is joining other local tech companies in backing a proposed state law to legalize same-sex marriages. In a statement, Seattle-based Amazon said the “spirit of these bills is consistent with our long-standing employment practices.” The statement, reported by The Seattle Times, comes a couple of weeks after Microsoft, RealNetworks and Concur said they were endorsing a move to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington. The state Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would legalize gay marriage in the state...

Reflecting strong grain prices last year, growers in Washington will be getting a financial boost from their share of $3.8 million in “cash patronage” from cooperative Connell Grain Growers. Based in Connell, Wash., Connell is a division of CHS Inc., the nation’s largest producer-owned cooperative. The returns are for business done from Sept. 1, 2010, to Aug. 31, 2011. Members who have reached 70, and representatives of the estates of deceased members, also may be eligible for another form of payment from the cooperative...

Hoping to buy some Facebook Inc. stock when the company goes public? Well, you may already own some shares and not even know it. Especially if you have a mutual fund with T. Rowe Price Associates. Investment research firm Morningstar reported Thursday that 50 mutual funds have Facebook ownership stakes. Their holdings are relatively small, the firm noted. One mutual fund with a stake in the Menlo Park-based Internet giant is Morgan Stanley Focus Growth Fund. According to Morningstar, the $1.5 billion fund has 3...

In the banking world, 2011 was the year of the merger. Failed banks, undercapitalized institutions and struggling bank branches were put up for sale in droves -- a sign of the difficulties continuing to face the financial industry. For many institutions, a sale meant an end to years of tough sledding. But for other, healthier banks, it meant increased strength and size. Seattle-based Washington Federal and Tacoma-based Columbia Bank were two banks that fall into the latter category, according to research compiled by data firm SNL Financial...

Community 1st Bank lost $1.3 million in the fourth quarter compared to a loss of $225,000 in the same period the previous year. For all of 2011, the bank lost $2.5 million, compared to a loss of $319,000 in 2010. During the fourth quarter, the bank pumped $1.3 million into its provision for loan losses, and it took $120,000 in write-downs of foreclosed real estate. For the year, the bank put $2.6 million into its provision for loan losses, and it wrote down $247,000 for declines in value of its foreclosed real estate portfolio...