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[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

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Work force initiative gets $100,000 grant

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has issued a $100,000 grant to start a Hawaii Jobs Initiative to provide the skilled work force needed for the growing construction industry.

The initiative is backed by the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the Pacific Resource Partnership labor group. It will generate new data outlining potential areas of labor shortages and bring together groups to come up with solutions.

The state Legislature appropriated funds for the project last year.

Realtors group sued over antitrust

WASHINGTON » The Justice Department sued the National Association of Realtors yesterday, claiming it unfairly limits competition by allowing real estate agents to withhold home listings from Internet-based brokers.

The antitrust lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, follows long negotiations in which the government pressed the Realtors to drop restrictions designed to protect traditional brokers.

The association announced changes to its original plan yesterday, but the new steps were insufficient to ward off the lawsuit because the organization kept in place brokers' ability to discriminate against competitors who post listings online, said J. Bruce McDonald, deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division.

L.A. home prices climb out of reach

LOS ANGELES » Housing affordability fell to a record low in Los Angeles County during July and remained near that level in California as prices hit all-time highs in many areas, a trade group said yesterday.

Two months ago, just 14 percent of county households could afford a home priced at the median $543,890, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors. A household would need to earn at least $126,370 to qualify for a traditional 30-year fixed rate loan.

30-year mortgage rates unchanged

WASHINGTON » Rates on 30-year mortgages, after declining for three weeks, were unchanged this week while other types of mortgages dipped lower on expectations of slower economic growth in coming months.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported yesterday that the nationwide average for rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages remained frozen at 5.71 percent this week, the same as last week.

In other news ...

» The head of Boeing Co.'s commercial airplane operations says the company and the Machinists Union were $1 billion apart when more than 18,000 workers hit the picket lines Sept. 2, according to an internal memo to company executives.