New Jobs

Baltimore City Solicitor George Nilson appears to have shot down a proposal to require businesses that receive large city contracts or tax breaks from City Hall to hire local residents for 51 percent of new jobs they create. Last week, Mr. Nilson said the bill could violate a section of the U.S. Constitution barring discrimination against job-seekers based on where they live. But the bill's sponsor, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, insists the measure is needed to address the city's stubbornly high unemployment rate.

The plan to move 450 jobs from the Financial Management Services facility in Hyattsville to the Bureau of Public Debt in Parkersburg, W.Va., has been postponed for five years, members of the Maryland congressional delegation announced Thursday. The move — proposed by the Obama administration to save $96 million over five years — was set to begin in February 2014, but the Maryland congressional delegation negotiated with the Treasury Department for the delay. "We must have a more frugal government, but not one that hangs our people out to dry," Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said in a statement.

The new year brings some new jobs on radio and Internet for one-time Baltimore media figures Anita Marks, Marc Clarke and Troy Johnson. Marks, a former show host at 105.7 The Fan, will start Jan. 5 as a weekend host on NBC Sports Radio. Her shift will run from noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays. At this point, no Baltimore stations carry the NBC Sports Network. Several stations in Washington do, but none carries the full lineup of NBC programming. You can, however, listen to NBC Sports Radio online here . The new job for Marks was announced and reported on Dec. 18. You can read one of those reports at sportsmediajournal.com . I wonder if the Baltimore guys who seemed to so love hating on Marks when she was at 105.7 The Fan will be checking out her new network gig. Meanwhile, Clarke and Johnson, of The Big Phat Morning Crew that left the airwaves at Baltimore's WERQ (92.3 FM)

The owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill plan to raze the closed plant, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Thursday, as political leaders from Towson to Washington mourned the loss of a landmark that once employed tens of thousands. The officials, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, vowed to help steelworkers who have lost their jobs. But the head of United Steelworkers Local 9477 was angry that a key part of the plant is being sold to North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. — to be used for spare parts.

I keep hearing about the jobs that will be created if referendum Question 7 passes, but can we be sure that the jobs will go to Marylanders? As reader Dave Daughters pointed out, there is no guarantee that will happen, yet the ads suggest it will ("How many casino jobs would go to Marylanders?" Oct. 22). I am sure the construction jobs will go to the company with the lowest bid, which could be a company from another state. Will they bring in their own people? I'm pretty sure that they will.

For a politician crow is something you'd rather do than eat. For Gov. Martin O'Malley , that less-than-delectable bird is off the menu for now. September's jobs report , released Friday, brought the best numbers the state has seen in a long time. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 9,800 new jobs were created in Maryland -- the best number in 29 months. That brought the state's unemployment rate down to 6.9 percent. O'Malley was quick to put out a statement hailing the improvement -- and claiming a share of the credit for his administration: "Last month, Marylanders created 9,800 new jobs ¿ the single greatest month of job creation in 29 months and the result of a thriving private sector that created 98 percent of all new jobs in September.

Maryland lawmakers are protesting a plan by the Obama administration to eliminate 450 federal jobs in Prince George's County, but it is unclear whether they will be able to reverse it. The move to consolidate the Financial Management Services facility in Hyattsville with the Bureau of Public Debt in Parkersburg, W.Va., is expected to save taxpayers $96 million over five years, according to the U.S. Treasury. The plan by the Treasury and the General Services Administration is set to begin in February 2014 with the relocation of 50 positions to West Virginia.

Here are excerpts of President Barack Obama's remarks as prepared for delivery to the Democratic National Convention: "But when all is said and done - when you pick up that ballot to vote - you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace - decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives for decades to come.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has publicly expressed concern over recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures indicating that Maryland lost 11,000 jobs in June. While we share his concern, there's a good chance that these preliminary figures will be adjusted for June as they were in May. The raw numbers indicate that Maryland added 2,100 jobs. Warm winter weather may have affected seasonal calculations, especially in northern states, but it's unlikely that we lost jobs. Mr. Franchot is also distressed by Maryland's ranking 48th in the recently-concluded fiscal year for private earnings growth.

Maryland's unemployment situation took a turn for the worse this spring and hasn't bounced back, with new estimates suggesting that the state lost 11,000 jobs in June — among the worst performances in the country. The U.S. Department of Labor said Friday that only two states saw bigger declines in June — Wisconsin and Tennessee — after adjusting for seasonal variations, which some economists worry skews the numbers. It was Maryland's fourth month in a row of job declines by that measure, a sharp change after a strong winter.