Industry News

Unemployment on the Upswing
The growing number of underemployed workers is painting a grim picture of the difficulties jobseekers are facing, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Boeing and Machinists Settle Strike
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Chicago, and striking machinists in Washington, Oregon, and Kansas voted to ratify a four-year contract that includes wages and pension agreements.

FABTECH Pulls 21,000 Visitors
In contrast to the financial news, an unprecedented number of people attended the opening day of the 2008 FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show.

Company Lawsuits Drop in 2008, but Trend Points to Increase
Following two years of reporting declines in the number of new lawsuits and regulatory proceedings – including a drop in large-dollar cases – U.S. companies now anticipate an uptick in new actions and government probes, as well as the need to hire more in-house litigation staff to help manage the expected rise in disputes, according to the 2008 Litigation Trends Survey published by international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Manufacturing Consumption Up Before Market Fell
August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $323 million, according to The Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association.

$350K Lunar Lander Prize Awarded
Armadillo Aerospace, Rockwall, TX, earned $350,000 in NASA prize money during the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge in Las Cruces, NM.

Lincoln Electric Sees a Good 3rd Quarter
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., Cleveland, reported a 39.1 percent increase in third quarter 2008 diluted earnings per share to $1.60 from $1.15 per diluted share in 2007.