But still more needs to be done, said the Harrisburg-based think tank in its annual “State of Working Pennsylvania” report.

"Our economy is a product of conscious policy choices," Mark Price, labor economist for the center, said. "Federal policy stopped the economic free fall. And policy choices at the national and state level will powerfully shape the future health of the economy for middle-class families."

Actions taken by the Federal Reserve, Bush and Obama administrations, and Congress have all helped curb unemployment, Price said. Early last year, before passage of the federal Recovery Act, Pennsylvania was losing nearly 30,000 jobs each month. The state by contrast has added 64,000 jobs during the first half of this year. Pennsylvania also benefited from Congress’ recent extension of federal Medicaid assistance to states and additional school funding to preserve teacher jobs, which kept the state from losing as many as 12,000 more jobs.

But Pennsylvania needs to add about 300,000 jobs to replace those lost since the recession began. The state’s unemployment rate, which as of July was 9.3 percent, is expected to be at 7.2 percent in 2014 — a full seven years after the recession began. The state’s job deficit and a deficit in the buying power of the middle class are both greater threats than closing the federal deficit, according to Stephen Herzenberg, center economist and executive director.

"The federal deficit is the wrong enemy," Herzenberg said. "Our economy will recover only when we put Americans back to work and pay them a fair wage."

Several recommendations were made in the report, including: Extending resources for Pennsylvania’s Way to Work Program set to expire Sept. 30, access to capital for small business, extension of unemployment insurance benefits as long as unemployment remains so high that it is impossible for many jobless workers to find jobs and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire and repurposing the funds to other areas to create jobs.

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There were 473,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Aug. 21, down 31,000 from an upwardly revised 504,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting new claims to fall to 485,000.

Claims had been stuck in the mid- to upper-400,000 range for about nine months, but spiked above 500,000 for the first time since November in last week’s report.

"The latest numbers provide a sigh of relief to stressed financial markets and at least uphold the possibility that the economy can avoid a double-dip recession," said economist John Lonski, of Moody’s Economy.com. "But we still need to establish a declining trend for jobless claims so we can feel more confident in the economic recovery."

The 4-week moving average of initial claims — a number that tries to smooth out week-to-week volatility — was 486,750, up 3,250 from the previous week.

Lonski said that figure needs to break below 450,000 and set new lows in order to improve the outlook for the job market, which he is optimistic about.

"Given that business sales rebounded in July after two months of decreases, companies may hold on to more employees, if not hire more," he said business card templates. "So it’s conceivable that that latest decline in jobless claims will be the first in a series of such declines."

Continuing claims: The government said 4.46 million people continued to file unemployment claims for their second week or more, during the week ended Aug. 14, the most recent data available. That’s down 62,000 from an upwardly revised 4.52 million the week before.

Continuing claims reflect people who file each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks. The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people who have exhausted their benefits but are still out of a job.

The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 28,000 to 4.51 million.

State-by-state: Jobless claims in eight states declined by more than 1,000 in the week ended Aug. 15, which is the most recent state data available. Claims in California dropped the most, by 5,275. The state attributed the drop to fewer layoffs in the service and manufacturing industries.

Claims jumped by more than 1,000 in Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.  

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A joint letter from AGs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. said that even though the San Francisco-based company would lose revenue, no amount of money "can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist."

In November craigslist added protections that include making posters provide a legitimate phone number and pay a fee to post in the erotic services portion of the site high risk personal loans.

Craigslist has already been subpoenaed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who wants proof that it is taking action to stop prostitution ads.

In a posting on its site, craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster wrote that the company is "working intensively … with experts and thought leaders at leading nonprofits and among law enforcement on further substantive measures we can take."

The post says that craigslist "is committed to being socially responsible, and when it comes to adult services ads, that includes aggressively combating violent crime and human rights violations, including human trafficking and the exploitation of minors."

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The trendy asian-fusion grille was a long-time standard in Phoenix, offering up sushi, a grill menu and a popular outdoor patio at the corner of 32nd Street and Camelback Road in the Camelback Corridor.

The sushi-n-sake spot, which had received four stars from online reviewers such as Trip Advisor and others, is expected to close its doors by the end of the month, but will continue to offer its weekday sushi Happy Hour from 4:30 to 6:30 p payday loan lenders.m. Monday through Friday and a reverse happy hour starting at 10 p.m. nightly.

For more: www.zen32.com

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Dell will pay $18 per share for 3Par's common stock, an 86 percent premium over Friday's closing price of $9.65.

Fremont-based 3Par is a maker of high-efficiency IT storage systems.

The boards of both companies have approved the terms.The deal is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Dell's non-GAAP earnings in its fiscal year 2012.

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Phoenix International Raceway in the Avondale will continue to host two Sprint Cup Series races next year.

NASCAR tweaked its 2011 schedule some, moving venue dates that added some races in some markets but took away races in others.

Phoenix hosts two races now and will host two next season.

PIR will continue to host the second to last race in the fall Sprint Cup. The Kobalt Tools 500 will occur Nov. 13, 2011. The Phoenix track also will host the second race of the 2011 season the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on Feb. 27. PIR now hosts a Saturday night race in April. That date is being switched to a Sunday afternoon time the week after the first race of the season the Daytona 500 guaranteed payday loan.

PIR officials are happy they are keeping two races.

February is a buys month sports wise in the Phoenix and nationally. The Waste Management Open golf tournament runs Jan. 31 to Feb. 6. Cactus League Spring Training starts the beginning of March and the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Coyotes are in the midst of their seasons.

The Super Bowl is being held at the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on February 6.

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Even with the cracks in the economy showing in fall 2008, developers Arthur Falcone, Marc Roberts and Nitin Motwani pushed the city to approve the massive commercial, residential, hotel and entertainment project on 25 acres.

Falcone, the head of Boca Raton-based Falcone Group, talked about including gambling if state law was changed.

Although the special zoning district was approved, some critics questioned the timing of the project. The plunge in real estate values has made going forward difficult. No construction has taken place, and the developers have not completed purchasing all of the property required for a contiguous site.

“It was a though call for them in 2008,” said Adam Greenberg, managing director of Miami-based BayBridge Real Estate Group. “They already had a lot invested in the area with land holdings and planning costs.”

Greenberg believes the developers had contracts to purchase additional properties but didn’t execute them.

Fifth Third Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit on July 28 against the entities that own most of the land planned for Miami Worldcenter: Park West 3, Park West 5, Miami Auction Prop LLC, 950 NE 2nd LLC, 915 N Miami LLC, 701 N Miami and 100 NE 11th LLC. The mortgages to those companies were last renewed in 2007 and 2008 for a combined $39.3 million.

Orion Bank has a pending lawsuit against 13 Parcels, another Falcone- and Roberts-managed entity that owns land planned for Miami Worldcenter. It concerns an $18.3 million mortgage, although the lawsuit does not call for foreclosure. Unlike the Fifth Third complaint, the Orion Bank lawsuit names Falcone and Roberts, who has since filed personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Since Orion Bank failed in 2009, Iberiabank has continued pursuing that claim after assuming its assets.

Falcone did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The entities targeted by the Fifth Third foreclosure control the following properties:

• 950 NE 2nd LLC owns the 29,102-square-foot entertainment building at 950 N.E. Second Ave., which was secured by a $15 million mortgage. It is home to the Discotekka nightclub.
• 701 N Miami owns the 58,910-square-foot parking lot at 701 N. Miami Ave., which is covered by a $9.6 million mortgage.
• 100 NE 11th LLC owns the 11,941-square-foot warehouse, the 9,863-square-foot retail building and a vacant 6,250-square-foot lot at 100 N.E. 11th St., which are secured by a $5.4 million mortgage.
• Miami Auction Prop owns the 34,500-squrae-foot parking lot at 601 N. Miami Ave., which has a $5.3 million mortgage.
• Park West 5 owns the 11,250-square-foot entertainment building at 90 N.E. 11th St., which has a $2.4 million mortgage. It is the home of club 90 Degree.
• Park West 3 owns a vacant 4,500-square-foot site along North Miami Avenue, just south of Northwest 10th Street. It is covered by a $600,000 mortgage.

Miami attorney Alan Grunspan, who represents Fifth Third in the foreclosure lawsuit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

“The project is a good possibility in five to seven years, but prices and demand aren’t there for new construction for that long,” Greenberg said.

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Portugal-based Banco Espirito Santo injected $10 million into its Miami-based subsidiary in the second quarter, according to its filing with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. That boosted its capital ratio to well above regulatory requirements.

It also helped soften the blow of the bank’s recent stumbles.

On June 1, Espirito Santo Bank restated its 2009 results to show a $3.3 million loss. It originally reported a $2.3 million loss for that year. The change came because the bank revised its expense to reserve for future loan losses to $9.2 million, increased from the originally reported expense of $8.2 million.

Sometimes, when banks review the problem loans, they recognize drops in the appraised values of the collateral properties, which causes them to go back and take additional reserves.

In the second quarter, Espirito Santo Bank lost $431,000, but it was still in positive territory for the year because it earned $954,000 in the first quarter.

The bank fell into the red mostly because its expenses to reserve for problem loans grew while it collected less revenue from net interest income.

Espirito Santo Bank made progress in reducing its level of problem loans. As of June 30, the bank had $19 million in noncurrent loans, representing 5.25 percent of its total loans. As of March 31, it had $26.2 million in noncurrent loans, representing 6.87 percent. The bank has restructured many of its loans that were delinquent.

The bank’s $7.3 million reserve for future loan losses covered 38 percent of its noncurrent loans at midyear. The restatement of its 2009 results increased that coverage ratio significantly from where it was originally at year-end.

Espirito Santo Bank was the 21st-largest bank chartered in South Florida as of March 31, with $569 million in assets. By June 30, it had grown to $580 million in assets. Its deposits were up to $480 million from $478 million over that period. However, the bank’s loans dropped to $355 million from $375 million.

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Kokoro Tei, a Japanese restaurant that specializes in bento lunches, is scheduled to open in August, said Emalia Pietsch of Colliers Monroe Friedlander. The restaurant will move into the Diamond Head side of the three-story building on S. Beretania Street, she said.

Domino’s Pizza also signed a lease with landowner Kamehameha Schools to occupy a ground-level retail space.

Pietsch said Domino’s is scheduled to open in late fall or early winter.

The two restaurants will join Teddy’s Bigger Burgers, which opened in Rainbow Vista in May.

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That’s the key finding in a survey released this week by Yankee Group, which reports that 73% of iPhone users are very satisfied with AT&T’s service. That rating compares favorably to how non-iPhone smartphone users feel about AT&T, and even to how non-iPhone users feel about other wireless providers.

The satisfaction rate of AT&T subscribers as a whole is 68%, and only 69% of smartphone users say they are satisfied with their mobile provider, Yankee Group found.

The results are surprising, given the pounding AT&T has taken in the media and on the blogosphere about its service-related issues with the iPhone. On CNNMoney’s recent stories "AT&T and Apple’s marriage made in hell," and "AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land," reader comments were overwhelmingly negative toward the wireless network.

AT&T’s recent iPad-related security glitch and mishandling of the iPhone 4 launch likely didn’t do much to help its reputation. Plus, iPhone owners pay AT&T nearly $12 a month more for service than the average smartphone user.

Tech analysts like to point out the ways in which AT&T is a drag on the iPhone. Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi said last month that AT&T’s network has "limited the iPhone experience." And Drake Johnstone, an analyst with Davenport & Co., forecasted that poor experiences with AT&T would drive as many as 40% of iPhone customers to Verizon once that network gets the iPhone.

So what explains Yankee Group’s conclusion that iPhone users’ love AT&T?

"Consumers transfer the high gloss of their Apple iPhone experience to AT&T," says Carl Howe, Yankee Group analyst and author of the study. "The iPhone creates a halo effect that rubs off."

In other words, iPhone customers’ praise for their network may be a result of the famous "reality distortion field" that surrounds Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Jobs and his company’s products.

But AT&T says its network really isn’t as bad as many people think Online payday loans. It’s a perception problem, not a service problem, in the company’s eyes.

"There’s a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close," says Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. "It doesn’t mean we’re perfect; we still have work to do. But that’s no surprise to us, because we have a great network."

AT&T’s ‘problem’ that everyone wants

Meanwhile, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) continues to reap the rewards of being the country’s exclusive iPhone provider.

Despite heavy data demands that drive up AT&T’s cost of servicing each customer, users still make the wireless company $50 more per customer each year than other providers get from their smartphone subscribers, according to Yankee Group. That’s because a higher percentage of iPhone customers buy pricey, top-tier service plans to satisfy their mobile download demands.

The iPhone will be worth $1.8 billion in sales to AT&T this year, and will generate $9 billion in revenue for the provider over the next five years, the study estimates. Yankee Group says that’s $750 million more each year than AT&T would be taking in if it had a different flagship smartphone.

The iPhone is also the gift that keeps on giving: 77% of iPhone owners say they’ll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of smartphone customers who say they’ll buy an Android phone. (See correction below)

"Our analysis explains why AT&T has bent over backward to keep its exclusive distribution deal with Apple as long as possible," Howe says. "Verizon has been regretting turning away Apple for the last three years."

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that 20% of Android customers say they’ll buy another Android phone. The survey actually revealed that 20% of all smartphone customers say they’ll buy an Android phone. 

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