Economic Report:

Older workers received some good news in January. The unemployment rate for workers 55 and older dropped from 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent, that’s according to a report from the AARP. 2009 was the first year in 60 years that the unemployment rate for those 55 and older broke 6 percent. In December 2007 the jobless rate for that age group was at a low 3.3. percent.

By Doug Cunningham

A judge's ruling has saved a one thousand machinist jobs in Connecticut. Jesse Russell reports:

Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby is threatening to “blanket hold” President Barack Obama’s presidential nominations unless an earmark that would award a $35 billion contract defense contract to a French aerospace company is reestablished. The earmark would result in providing an advantage to Airbus over U.S. based Boeing in the bidding process.

Lede: We begin this week with unemployment slightly lower than last week, but America's workers are still in a very deep jobs hole. Doug Cunningham has more.

Workers taken for a long ride by Disneyland on an unresolved labor contract are planning a hunger strike at Disneyland resorts. Jesse Russell has more.

During Congressional hearings concerning a Comcast and NBC merger, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the deal would not result in employees being laid off. Roberts explained that the two companies are not direct competitors, so there would be little overlap in jobs. However, the Communications Workers of America which combined represents nearly 5,000 workers at the two companies, opposes the deal. The labor organization cited previous mergers of similar companies, such as Time Warner merging with AOL, which resulted in thousands of layoffs.

By Doug Cunningham

As Congress considers a jobs bill, the AFL-CIO says recent polls show the American people’s solid support of government spending money to create jobs and help the jobless. A CNN poll in mid-January showed 80 percent of Americans support government spending on roads and bridges while 83 percent support aid to unemployed workers. The latest CNN poll, taken in mid-January, shows four of five Americans (80 percent) favor government spending on roads and bridges, and 83 percent approve of aid to unemployed workers.

By Doug Cunningham

In every state in the U.S. being in a union on average means being paid more and being more likely to have employer-provided health care and an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The Center for Economic and Policy Research’s study, “The Unions Of The States” finds the typical union member earns 15 percent more money, is 19 percent more likely to have health care provided by employers and is 24 percent more likely to have a retirement plan from an employer.

By Doug Cunningham

In the wake of Thursday’s New York Attorney General indictment of bank of America and former CEO Ken Lewis on fraud charges, SEIU is calling Lewis and the bank to come clean with all the information surrounding the banks’ purchase of Merrill Lynch. SEIU says this investigation drives right to the heart of the financial crisis and taxpayers deserve all the facts. The union says big banks can’t crash our economy, take our money and walk away scot-free.

Even with support from the Pope it looks like workers at an Alcoa plant could soon be out of jobs. During his Sunday business prayer Pope Benedict urged Alcoa and Fiat to save jobs by forgoing plans to shutter plants. Hundreds of Alcoa workers took to the streets of Rome on Tuesday to protest the aluminum company’s plan to shut down two smelters in the country.

The future of the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project looks bleak. Jesse Russell reports.

By Doug Cunningham

Diabetes is a growing global epidemic, yet one of the earliest ways to detect diabetes can be excluded by some states under Medicaid. Jesse Russell reports:

Podiatry is defined as an optional service under Medicaid. Due to the omission podiatrists have been pushing Congress to make sure the profession is covered under any health care bill that might make it to the President’s desk. Dr. John Mattiacci is Temple University’s Dean of the School of Podiatry. He explains that podiatrists are often the first line of detecting the early onset of diabetes.