A new partnership: Entergy announced this morning that it has picked Silver Springs Networks of San Jose, California, to help it improve grid reliability and quickly detect and restore power after outages for its 2.8 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In a news release, Silver Springs President and CEO Mike Bell says a smart grid program will “usher in a new era for Entergy utilities to continuously improve reliability and safety while meeting the evolving needs of their customers.” Pending regulatory approval, Silver Spring anticipates that Entergy will begin deploying the new platform by 2018, with completion to occur by 2021. Read the full announcement.
Positive outlook: About four in 10 small business owners say they have at least one employee they expect to be covered under the new federal overtime pay law that goes into effect on Dec. 1, but few say they expect the mandate to impact their hiring, according to the latest PNC Economic Outlook Survey released today. The findings of the biannual telephone survey also reveal that 71% of small business owners are optimistic about the economy—the most since 2005—and 77% have a positive outlook about their local economies. The federal overtime pay rule increases the salary threshold, qualifying millions more Americans for overtime pay. One in 10 business owners surveyed say they would reduce their workforce or cut back hiring because of the rule. Another eight in 10 say it would not impact hiring in any way. Read the full report.
Another low: Filings for U.S jobless claims fell last week to the second-lowest level since 1973, as employers grow reluctant to fire workers in a tightening labor market, Bloomberg reports. Jobless claims dropped by 5,000 to 249,000 in the week ended Oct. 1, a U.S. Labor Department report showed this morning. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 256,000. Continuing claims declined to the lowest level since 2000. Bloomberg writes that companies are “going head-to-head in finding skilled applicants amid record job openings.” This is an indication of a healthy labor market that may encourage the Federal Reserve to raise the interest rate before the end of the year. Read the full story.
