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Briefs

Talk of the bay: Six women join bias suit vs. Raymond James

By Times staff
Published November 17, 2007

Three women who sued Raymond James Financial in September for discrimination have been joined by six others, including two current employees. In an amended complaint filed this week, the women detail more instances in which they say the St. Petersburg company paid women less than men, denied them opportunities for advancement, and hired and promoted men who harassed women. Broker Andrea Duda, who still works for the company, says she was demoted as manager of the Ann Arbor, Mich., office this summer after returning from leave for breast cancer treatment even though the office's financial performance exceeded projections for the previous two fiscal years. A younger, less-experienced male manager got the job. "We've been contacted by women from all over the country, and that leads us to believe there are some real problems there," said Chicago lawyer Ethan Zelizer, who represents the women. The company declined to comment.

State's jobless rate inches above 4%
Florida's unemployment rate is slowly but steadily on its way up. The state's jobless rate was 4.2 percent in October, up from 4 percent the month before - and 3.2 percent the year before. The state Agency for Workforce Innovation points out that Florida still has the lowest unemployment rate of the 10 most populous states and remains well below the national average of 4.7 percent. Leisure and hospitality, education and health services added the most jobs over the year; to no surprise, construction lost 21,900 jobs in that same period, the eighth consecutive month of declines in the construction industry.

Gas Watch
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the Tampa Bay area:
Friday: $3.112
Thursday: $3.114
Month ago: $2.742
Year ago: $2.189
Record: $3.114*

* Record set on Thursday

Source: AAA/Oil Price Information Service

To find the cheapest gas where you live, visit money.tampabay.com.

All about housing
James Thorner digs deeper into bay area housing news in his (Un)Real Estate blog at blogs.tampabay.com/realestate.

[Last modified November 16, 2007, 23:26:23]