….AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE ‘BUSINESS MINUTE’ REPORT…BROUGHT YOU BY MINUTEMAN PRESS:

The first-ever Primanti Bros. Restautant and Bar in Beaver County opened its doors on Wednesday. The restaurant is located near the Walmart on Brodhead Road in Monaca. The new location gave away free sandwiches for a year to the first 100 customers through the door. The new Primanti’s hosted a by-invitation-only fundraiser Tuesday night for the Monaca Community Development Corp.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring jumped in February as employers added 273,000 jobs, evidence that the economy was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the U.S. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low, down from 3.6% in the previous month. The job gain comes from a survey of payrolls in the second week of February, so the healthy gains pre-date the viral outbreak.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up one-tenth of a percentage point over the month to 4.7 percent in January, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 11,000 over the month to a record high of 6,549,000 due to gains in both employment and unemployment.

 

 

Gas prices in the Beaver County region dropped this week, according to Triple-A: The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is six cents cheaper this week at $2.662 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Beaver:  $2.726 .

UNDATED (AP) — The Dow is plunging again and other major indexes like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are suffering greater percentage declines. On Friday, the economic repercussions of the spreading coronavirus have become clearer. However, no one knows how long it will go on, and that is causing massive disruptions in industries ranging from airlines and tech, to movie theater chains and amusement parks. Cruise ship operators may be the hardest hit. Passengers and crew members aboard a cruise ship being held off the California coast are awaiting coronavirus test results Friday. The Grand Princess lays at anchor near San Francisco on Thursday after a traveler from a previous voyage died of the disease and at least four others became infected.

….AND THAT’S THE ‘BUSINESS MINUTE’ REPORT…BROUGHT YOU BY MINUTEMAN PRESS.