Business, legislative leaders take action to fill ‘skills gap’

Maine business and legislative leaders have formally launched a special bipartisan committee that will look for ways to fill a “skills gap” and improve the state’s economy.

Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Dana Connors joined Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland and House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick for Wednesday’s announcement.

The Democratic leaders had announced plans in December for the 15-member Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Workforce and Economic Future, whose mission is to recommend legislation to strengthen Maine’s work force and help small businesses thrive.

Much of the committee’s work will be directed at training Mainers in the skills needed by businesses, and revitalizing small downtown businesses, said Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall of Richmond, who co-chairs the panel with House Majority Leader Seth Berry of Bowdoinham.

Plunge in wholesale prices slowly lowering power bills

New England’s power grid operator says wholesale electricity prices dropped by nearly 23 percent in the regional last year because of falling natural gas prices and decreased demand.

Electricity prices are now at their lowest levels since 2003, ISO New England said Wednesday.

The lower wholesale prices don’t necessarily mean quick drops in monthly power bills. Utility regulators in the six New England states set retail rates in advance, and because the rates are in place for intervals of months or years, the lags between drops in wholesale and retail prices can vary.

But since the ISO expects the trend of low recent natural gas prices to continue, the savings should be coming eventually.

Union membership drops to lowest level in decades

Union membership in the U.S. dropped half a percentage point in 2012 to levels not believed to be seen since the 1930s, driven largely by a decline in the number of government employees who are union members.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday released its estimates of union membership for last year based on the Current Population Survey, a monthly sample of 60,000 households nationwide. It found the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of a union declined from 11.8 percent in 2011 to 11.3 percent last year. It estimated that 14.4 million workers belonged to a union.

California continued to lead the nation in terms of union members with 2.5 million. New York had the highest percentage of workers belonging to a union, at 23.2 percent.

Overall, union membership rates declined in 34 states, rose in 14 others and the District of Columbia, and remained unchanged in two.

Union membership is the lowest since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began estimating data on wage and salary workers in 1983, when union membership was 20.1 percent and there were 17.7 million union workers. A Congressional Research Service report from 2004 suggests last year’s rate is the lowest since sometime in the 1930s.

Final ruling affirms countries ‘dumping’ washing machines

The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a final ruling Wednesday determining that Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc. and other foreign manufacturers have been selling washing machines in the U.S. at below their market value, hurting the U.S. industry. The decision means the U.S. government will impose duties on imports of the washing machines.

Whirlpool Corp. filed a complaint against its competitors in 2011, claiming washing machines imported from South Korea and Mexico were being sold at prices below fair market value, a practice known as dumping. Dumping is illegal under U.S. trade law and companies can seek duties to counteract it.

Whirlpool, based in Benton Harbor, Mich., is the world’s biggest appliance maker. It filed several complaints against imports from South Korea and Mexico after recently locating more of its own production in the U.S.