Labor

Numbers-- The Labor Department reported that 294,000 Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, up by 15,000 from the previous week.

Numbers-- Claims for jobless benefits edged up 5,000, to 309,000 last week, the Labor Department reported.

Maryland will get nearly $6 million in federal stimulus money to train workers in Baltimore in "green" jobs, U.S. labor officials said Wednesday. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation will receive a $5.8 million grant to train and help find jobs for dislocated workers and others, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. The assistance is part of nearly $190 million in federal stimulus being awarded to states. The idea is to teach skills required for industries such as energy efficiency and renewable power.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that Maryland will get $126.8 million in federal money because it expanded the number of people eligible for unemployment benefits. The move was expected: State legislators changed the program guidelines in the past session with an eye toward qualifying for the "modernization" incentive money. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis praised the state Thursday, saying that offering unemployment checks to more out-of-work people "is the right thing to do."

Richard P. Hughes Jr., once the embodiment of the militant unionism that tarnished the port of Baltimore's image, has been elected chairman of the Private Sector Committee, an influential advisory group composed largely of port business leaders.As much as any single event during the past two years, Mr. Hughes' election Friday symbolizes the gradual, yet dramatic improvement in labor-management relations at the once strife-ridden port.It was the first time a labor representative has headed the group.