WASHINGTON — Congress has given the U.S. patent system its first major overhaul since the age of the transistor radio by passing legislation designed to spur innovation and provide a sorely needed boost to the job market. Senate passage Thursday ...

Tagged with: Barack Obama businesses Congress Economy ibm innovation jobs legislation patents

WASHINGTON — Companies advertised the most job openings in three years, a hopeful sign after the worst month for hiring in nearly a year. The Labor Department said Wednesday that employers posted 3.2 million jobs in July, up from 3.17 ...

Tagged with: businesses companies employers hiring job openings Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey labor Labor Department Unemployment unemployment rate washington

When it comes to money, two things are certain: shoppers like saving it and business owners like making it. Anything that makes it easier to reach those goals simultaneously is good to go — at least according to consumers and ...

Tagged with: businesses Comptroller Peter V. R. Franchot consumers Economy maryland Maryland Retailers Association Retail shopping tax foundation tax-free Taxes

WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale companies added more autos, machinery and computers to their stockpiles in June, pushing inventories up for the 18th consecutive month. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.6 percent in June, the Commerce department said Wednesday. That ...

Tagged with: businesses commerce commerce department computers Economy federal reserve Insight Economics inventories machinery Recession sales stockpiles wholesale

WASHINGTON — Hiring picked up slightly in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent. The modest improvement may quiet fears of another recession after the worst losses on Wall Street in nearly three years. Employers added 117,000 jobs ...

Tagged with: businesses dow jones industrial average Economy gas prices jobs Labor Department stock market Unemployment wall street

FREDERICK — The Frederick County Commissioners are shelving a study that recommended outsourcing government services to private businesses. The vote Tuesday followed two contentious public hearings and protests by hundreds of county employees and their allies. The Frederick News-Post reports ...

Tagged with: businesses frederick frederick county frederick county commissioners frederick news-post outsourcing parks and recreation public works public-private partnership

The state will expand zones in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and on the Eastern Shore where businesses are eligible for tax credits for making property improvements and hiring new workers. Maryland will add 112 acres to the Enterprise Zone in ...

Tagged with: Baltimore Baltimore County businesses Eastern Shore expansion hiring maryland properties tax credits workers

Stocks are opening sharply lower after the government said businesses added the fewest jobs in June in more than a year. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent. Employers created only 18,000 jobs last month, a fraction of what economists ...

Tagged with: businesses economists employers Government jobs jobs report labor Labor Department stock market Stocks Stocks traders Unemployment unemployment rate

WASHINGTON — Businesses requested more airplanes, autos, and oil drilling equipment in May The jump in factory orders after a sluggish spring suggests supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis are fading. Factory orders rose 0.8 percent in May, the ...

Tagged with: air travel auto industry businesses commerce department companies factory goods factory orders japan Transportation

BETHESDA — Utility officials are blaming a power outage in the Washington suburb of Bethesda on a squirrel. The Washington Post reports that about 1,200 homes and businesses lost power for less than an hour Sunday starting around 11:20 a.m. ...

Tagged with: bethesda businesses homes Montgomery County pepco power outage upper marlboro utility washington suburban sanitary commission