Unemployment among African-Americans Highest in Wisconsin

According to a study released on Thursday, unemployment among African-Americans in Wisconsin last year was the highest of all the 50 US states.

The report released by the center-left Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC, revealed that present employment rate in Wisconsin is 19.9%, which is three times higher than the highest state white unemployment rate.

It is also higher than the national black unemployment rate of 11%. The report also showed that Wisconsin's black unemployment rate is twice the overall national unemployment rate at the peak of the recession.

Red Hat shares rise as quarterly results beat estimates

Shares of Red Hat increased as much as 5% in after-hours trading. The shares of the company soared after it posted strong quarterly results, which beat past Wall Street's expectations.

About 2,971,552 shares were traded during trading session, marking 130% from the earlier session's volume.

Red Hat reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter and with this, it beat the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had generated revenue of $464.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus prediction of $456.80 million. It posted $0.39 earnings per share during the same quarter in the previous year.

Red Hat CEO and President Jim Whitehurst said that the company strategy and its movement towards open hybrid cloud technologies led to strong results.

CPSC Investigates Safety of Lumber Liquidators Flooring

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on Wednesday, has made a formal announcement that it was investigating whether Lumber Liquidators sold products with dangerous levels of formaldehyde. It is one of the nation's largest discount flooring retailers.

Elliot F. Kaye, the commission's chairman, in a call with reporters, said that the company had been cooperating with the agency's inquiry.

The agency looked into the matter following the CBS News program "60 Minutes" report that accused Lumber Liquidators of selling laminate flooring in California and violating the state's regulations on safety levels for formaldehyde products.

The company has disputed the news program's testing methods and has repeatedly insisted that its products are safe.

Adidas to accelerate Product Innovation

German sportswear company Adidas has decided to speed up product innovation. According to the sportswear major, which designs and manufactures sports shoes, clothing and accessories, it has planned to prioritize some of globe's biggest cities to accelerate profit growth.

On Thursday, Herbert Hainer, Chief Executive Officer of the company based in Herzogenaurach, said that speed will be one of three key strategies for the company to drive future growth. According to Hainer, speed will help the company to get the latest products to customers more quickly. According to reports, the world's second-biggest sporting-goods maker will also make investment to do good business in cities like New York, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris and Shanghai.

Florida’s Metroplexes driving state’s Population Growth

Florida is jumping up in the list of most populous states and many cities in the state feature among the fastest-growing cities. Lately, The US Census Bureau has released a data as per which, The Villages, Florida, has been ranked as the nation's fastest growing metro in 2014.

Between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, the city west of Orlando unveiled about a 5.4% increase in population. The news came as in December Florida became the nation's third most populated state.

The Census Bureau said that the growth is owing to many factors like the increase in the state's metroplexes in areas like central and southern Florida. Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said that six Florida metro areas were among the 20 fastest-growing.

Wells Fargo to cut 1000 jobs

Thousand Milwaukee workers will soon have to look for new job for them because of improving mortgage delinquencies.

One of the Milwaukee-based Wells Fargo departments concentrated on foreclosures, short sales and collections. Wells Fargo also focused on issues that were a sign of the failing economy. But there is a possibility that the US can finally hit a tipping point. Jobs are recovering. It means that now people can pay for their homes. Business of real estate agents, staffing agencies, and manufacturing companies are increasing.

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