Local firm gets $42M AF contract
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE
The Air Force awarded BASE — Beavercreek defense contractor UES Inc. a seven-year contract to handle research, development and reporting for the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The contract is worth up to $42.2 million, the Defense Department reported. The work is to be done at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and be completed by May 2019.
The AFRL office at WrightPatterson awarded the contract.
— The U.S. economy WASHINGTON is looking slightly weaker one day before a critical report on May job growth.
Economic growth was a little slower in the first three months of the year than first estimated, largely because governments and consumers spent less and businesses restocked their supplies more slowly.
The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits rose to a five-week high last week. And a survey of private companies showed only modest hiring gains last month.
Still, a softer job market hasn’t caused Americans to scale back spending. Consumers spent more at retail stores in May than the same month last year, buying more clothes and Mother’s Day gifts.
The mostly disappointing data kept the Dow Jones Industrial Average on pace to record its first monthly loss since September. The yield on the 10year Treasury note sank to 1.56 percent, a 66-year low. Thursday’s data showed: • The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said in its second of three estimates of January-March growth. That’s lower than its initial estimate of 2.2 percent.
• Weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000.
• Private businesses added 133,000 jobs last month, according to a survey by payroll provider ADP.
That figure disappointed most economists, who had hoped to see job growth accelerate after ADP’s survey found that just 113,000 jobs were added in April.
When the government issues its report today on May employment, economists expect it to say that employers added 158,000 jobs. That would be better than in the past two months, but far below the winter’s pace of 252,000 jobs per month. They also expect no change in the unemployment rate, which was 8.1 percent in April.
The Ohio Unemployment Compensation Review Commission, which handles appeals of jobless claims, says it has eliminated a backlog of more than 12,000 cases that had resulted in waits of up to four months for cases to be heard and adjudicated.
The commission’s case load is now just over 2,300, and wait times have been reduced to an average of 29 days, said spokeswoman Kathryn Todd.
“That’s about as fast as the process can be after you meet all the statutory time lines,’’ Todd said. “We’ve made enormous strides.’’
The three-person commission, which is appointed by the governor and currently has one vacant seat, hears appeals when businesses or individuals contest initial decisions by the state jobs department.
The cases typically involve individuals disputing rulings that they’re ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits, and employers contesting awards granted to workers whom they believe were rightfully terminated and ineligible for benefits, Todd said.
“Obviously, there were lots and lots of claims coming in because of the recession,” Todd said. “But we also hadn’t met federal (efficiency) standards for a decade before that.”
U.S. Department of Labor standards require that 60 percent of the commission’s cases be closed within 30 days, and 80 percent of cases be closed within 45 days. By March, the commission reported it was closing 75 percent of cases within 30 days, and 89 percent of cases within 45 days.
The catch-up work included requiring hearing officers to meet higher performance standards, hiring temporary staff and installing a new computer system.
Reducing wait times not only benefits workers who have been wrongfully denied unemployment insurance benefits, it also saves money for the state by eliminating overpayments.