Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/475039
The total number of California nonfarm jobs reached 15.9 million in Jan- uary, an increase of 67,300 over December. Construction,professional and business services, edu- cational and health services wereamongtheeightcatego- ries that showed gains. The information sector posted the largest increase, adding 14,000 jobs, while manufac- turing lost 4,200 jobs. The state has added more than 1.8 million jobs since the economic recov- ery began in February 2010, the agency said. The strong growth also translated into one of the best year-over-year gains since the turn of the cen- tury. Nonfarm payroll em- ployment in California in- creased by 498,000 jobs from January 2014 to Janu- ary 2015, up 3.2 percent. That's the third largest year-over-year gain since September 2000, Callori said. The number of unem- ployed Californians was 1.3 million in January, down 31,000 over the month. Un- employment claims fell to 397,142inJanuary,compared to 436,034 in December. Jobless FROMPAGE1 While construction isn't planned until at least 2017, the City Council's action allows the city to receive funds to move forward with the design component of the project, said Public Works Director Bruce Henz. Theupcomingdesignphase amounts to about $209,000, none of which is planned to come from the city. "We look forward to re- ceiving those funds, and proceeding with the de- sign and construction of that bridge," Henz said. The total cost for the project is estimated at $1.3 million, 95 percent of which will be paid through federal and state funds, Henz said, adding that the city's con- tribution amounts to the re- maining 5 percent. Henz noted that the city already has contributed funds toward the bridge replacement project in the 2013-2014 budget year, which included a project study report. The city's contribution for the project comes from Fund 21, or Traffic Control Impact Fees, Henz said, noting that money isn't be- ing spent from the city's general fund. Bridge FROM PAGE 1 The parole panel looks at the following criteria when determining suit- ability: lack of a juvenile record, stable social his- tory, signs of remorse, motivation for the crime, lack of criminal history, age, understanding and plans for the future and institutional behavior. The factors looked at for unsuitability include: committed offense, previ- ous record of violence, un- stable social history, prior sadistic sexual offenses, psychological factors, in- cluding the prisoner's his- tory of mental problems related to the crime and institutional misconduct in prison or jail. Parole hearings are conducted by a commis- sioner and deputy com- missioner. The District Attor- ney from the prosecut- ing county may ask clari- fying questions and issue a statement about the pa- role suitability. Victims and their rep- resentatives may also ad- dress the parole panel. The public may submit written comments. Comments should be sent to the prison's Clas- sification and Parole Rep- resentative. Hooker's CDC identification number is D18324. The governor has the authority to review pa- role suitability decisions. If Hooker is denied pa- role, a new hearing in the future must be set under state law. Hooker FROM PAGE 1 NEWYORKFIREDEPARTMENT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A Delta plane rests on a berm near the water at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Thursday. By Scott Mayerowitz The Associated Press NEWYORK As the National Transportation Safety Board begins its investiga- tionintoaDeltajetlinerthat slid off a runway while land- ing during a snowstorm at LaGuardia Airport, there is no shortage of questions to pursue: How big a factor was the snow? Was the runway too slippery? Could it have been a mechanical problem? Did the pilot come in too fast? Thursday's accident of Flight 1086 from Atlanta caused only minor inju- ries to six passengers, but it was a scary case of what could have been at an air- port notorious for its rela- tively short runways and proximity to water. The plane packed with 130 peo- ple smashed through a pe- rimeter fence and came to rest just feet from the icy waters of Flushing Bay. Aviation safety experts interviewed by The Associ- ated Press give their take on the possible scenarios: Snowyrunway Maintaining a runway during bad weather is sim- ilar to maintaining a high- way, except an aircraft is operating at a much higher speed than a motor vehicle, said Jim Hall, former chair- man of the NTSB. "You know, it's a piece of concrete," Hall said. "You've got to maintain the friction in order for the aircraft tires to engage and stop the plane." Airports rely on reports on runway conditions from pilots as they land to con- tinually monitor safety. On Thursday, Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye said the runway had been plowed "literally min- utes" before the Delta flight arrived, and two pilots who landed before had reported "good braking conditons." There's no rule about how much snow or ice leads to a runway closing. In- stead, the Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to measure run- ways during winter storms to assure planes can safely brake: A specially equipped vehicle races down the run- way with a computer check- ing braking action, and if the runway fails the test it must be closed. Steve Hull, an accident- investigation consultant with RTI Forensics, says U.S. airports need to start providingmoreinformation themselves about the condi- tions of runways. "Relying on aircraft crews is an unreliable method," Hull said. "Run- way patrols to positively identify the braking action is what is required." Badapproach The plane could have been coming in too fast or drifting to the left or the right. There was a slight tail wind and crosswind at the time, but safety experts say both were well within the capabilities of such a jet. Normally, pilots prefer to land facing the wind, rather than having it at their back. A headwind slows a jet downwhileatailwindgives it a push, making it slightly harder to stop. It is up to a pilot to decide when a land- ing is too risky and to abort the approach, climb, circle around and try it again. "Runway overruns are the accident that never goes away," said Steven Wallace, who was director of the FAA's accident-investiga- tions office from 2000 to 2008. Mechanicalproblem There was no indication ofanyissuepriortolanding. Passengers weren't told to brace. So if something did happen, it would have oc- curred during touchdown. Todd Curtis, a former Boe- ing safety engineer and di- rector of Airsafe.com Foun- dation, said a few things could have led to the pilots losing theability tosteerthe plane. The rudder — part of the tail that steers the jet in- flight — could have failed. Upon landing, the jet's en- gines reverse their thrust to help slow the plane down. They might have malfunc- tioned or one of the two failed, causing the plane to unexpectedly turn. Another scenario could have had the brakes on the plane's wheel fail or incorrectly apply more pressure to one side than the other. NTSB has plenty of questions to answer in NYC runway slide LAGUARDIA MISHAP By Christopher S. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON Unemploy- ment in the U.S. has dropped to a seven-year low of 5.5 per- cent — the level normally considered the mark of a healthy job market. Yet that number isn't as encouraging as it might sound. The jobless rate fell in February from 5.7 percent mainly because many peo- ple gave up looking for work and were no longer officially counted among the unem- ployed, the government re- ported Friday. What's more, wage gains remained slug- gish last month. Those trends suggest that the job market, while improving rapidly, isn't quite as healthy as it looks. That complicates the Federal Reserve's task of figuring out when the economy has strength- ened enough to withstand higher interest rates. The Fed is considering a rate in- crease as early as June. Employers are certainly hiring freely: They added a solid295,000jobslastmonth, the 12th straight monthly gain above 200,000, the gov- ernment said. It's the longest such stretch since 1994-95. With employers hiring and the economy growing steadily, the U.S. is easily outshining most other ma- jor nations. For example, the unemployment rate in the 19 countries that share the euro is 11.2 percent, or twice the U.S. rate. The robust U.S. job gains appear to have convinced many investors that the Fed will soon raise the short- term interest rate it con- trols. Investors on Friday sold ultra-safe U.S. Trea- surys, a sign that many an- ticipate a rate increase. The yield on the 10-year Trea- sury note rose to 2.24 per- cent from 2.11 percent. And they dumped stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 276 points in afternoon trading. A 5.5 percent unemploy- ment rate is typically consis- tent with what economists call "full employment" — when the proportion of un- employed people has fallen so low that employers must raise pay to find enough qualified workers. Companies then raise prices to pay for the higher wages. And the Fed usually follows suit by raising its benchmark short-term rate to cool growth and ward off inflation. But the scars of the Great Recession have made the process hazier and more complicated. "5.5 percent doesn't mean what it once did," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Fi- nancial. Full employment "is always a moving target, and it has moved down." Since the recession ended in June 2009, the percentage of adults work- ing or looking for work has fallen to a 37-year low of 62.8 percent. It has hov- ered around the mark for most of the past year. Economists calculate that about half that de- cline reflects the aging of the population as the baby boom generation retires. But another factor is that many Americans have become discouraged about their job prospects and have given up looking. Those out of work aren't counted as unemployed un- less they are actively look- ing for jobs. That has helped arti- ficially lowered the rate since its peak of 10 percent in October 2009. Megan Greene, chief economist at John Han- cock Financial Services, noted that hourly pay fell in February from January in the construction and mining industries. Such figures will outweigh the falling unemployment rate in Fed chair Janet Yellen's mind, she said, and per- haps discourage a rate in- crease soon. Yet many other econo- mists expect the Fed will put a rate increase into ef- fect in June or September. The short-term interest rate is usually at 3 percent or 4 percent when the econ- omy is at full employment. Why 5.5% unemployment isn't as great as it seems ECONOMY By Jim Salter The Associated Press ST. LOUIS Ferguson city leaders will meet with Jus- tice Department officials in about two weeks and pro- vide a plan for ways to im- prove the police department following a scathing report released this week, Mayor James Knowles III said Fri- day. Knowles told The Associ- ated Press that the goal is to work out an agreement with the federal government. A specific meeting date has not been set. "They want to hear what we will do," Knowles said in a telephone interview. "We're going to hopefully work out some sort of agreement and we'll move forward. "We've got to come up withsolutionsnow,"Knowles said. The Justice Department on Wednesday cleared Dar- ren Wilson, the white for- mer Ferguson officer who shot Michael Brown, of fed- eral civil rights charges in the death of the 18-year-old, whowasblackandunarmed. A St. Louis County grand jury also found no evidence of a crime and announced in NovemberthatWilsonwould face no state charges. But a separate Justice De- partment report released Wednesdayfoundpatternsof racial profiling, bigotry and profit-driven law enforce- ment and court practices in the St. Louis County sub- urb that has come to repre- sent the tension between mi- norities and American police nationwide. Most of Fergu- son's police officers and top elected officials are white, but two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black. Knowles said city leaders are still going over the re- port "line by line" before de- termining reforms. Asked about Police Chief Tom Jack- son, Knowles said he still leads the police force, but the mayor declined to dis- cuss Jackson's future. Mes- sages seeking comment from Jackson were not returned. "I'm not here to just chop heads," Knowles said. "We have to evaluate everything in the report, pick out what are the systemic issues and what are the things we can fix." The report uncovered racist emails from three city employees, including some that belittled black resi- dents or President Barack Obama. Knowles said all three employees responsi- ble for those emails ended employment with the city on Thursday. POLICE KILLINGS Ferguson leaders, DOJ to meet again ALAN DIAZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Arlington Robertson of Fort Lauderdale, le , hands his resume to an Internal Revenue Service Special Agent, at the annual Veterans Career and Resource Fair in Miami. R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 9 A