Economists: 2015 best year for Alabama jobs since Great Recession
Posted: Friday, January 22, 2016 5:23 pm | Updated: 5:36 pm, Fri Jan 22, 2016.
By Zach Tyler, Star Staff Writer
Last year was the best in terms of jobs added to the economy Alabama’s seen since the Great Recession, according to figures announced by the state Labor Department on Friday.
Economists, though, pointing to trends in both the global economy and industries in which Alabama jobs were added, wonder how long that growth can last.
The rate of those jobless in Alabama rose in December to 6.2 percent, according to those figures, data gathered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s latest rate lags behind the national average of 5 percent, and tops Alabama’s November rate of 6 percent.
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Johnson Controls, Tyco to Merge in Inversion
Agence France-Presse
Jan 25, 2016
Tyco International and Johnson Controls announced Monday that they will merge in a tax saving deal that will combine Tyco’s operations in security and fire safety with Johnson’s businesses, which include energy storage.
The merger will result in $150 million in annual tax savings as Johnson, based in Wisconsin, will shift for tax purposes to Ireland, where Tyco is based and where tax rates are lower.
Under the deal, Johnson shareholders will own 56% of the equity of the combined company and garner cash of $3.9 billion. Tyco shareholders will hold the remaining 44%.
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LIFT Project Seeks to Optimize Titanium Modeling Processes
Robert Brooks | Foundry Mgmt & Technology
Jan 25, 2016
LIFT, the Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow initiative, is turning its research focus to materials engineering in the third industrial-academic partnership it has launched since last summer. The project will seek strategies for expanding the potential uses of titanium alloys in aircraft engines and other aerospace applications by reducing the cost of designing and testing parts.
Specifically, the researchers aim to develop computer models that will cut the time and cost of materials development, component design, and manufacturing by 50%. New “computational tools” also will be developed, according to Alan Taub, LIFT’s chief technology officer.
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