Chartis is expanding its relationship with Reader's Digest to market and sell accident, health, property and casualty insurance worldwide, the company said Thursday.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell in the final week of 2011 for the fourth time in five weeks.

The Columbus mayor's office says an initiative to increase employment in central Ohio has resulted in nearly 1,200 hirings since September.

West Penn Allegheny Health System plans to spend $20 million to upgrade a hospital in a Pittsburgh suburb where a larger rival network is planning to open a new hospital later this year.

Newt Gingrich, who finished a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses, says the GOP presidential campaign is not like running for senior class president and isn't a game.

Unemployment rates fell in three-quarters of large U.S. cities in November. The second straight month of declines for most major markets suggests the modest improvement in the job market is widespread.

The projected shortfall in Wisconsin's Medicaid programs serving the poor, elderly and disabled through plans like BadgerCare has improved by more than $300 million, Gov. Scott Walker's administration said in a letter released Tuesday.

Revenue, reform and, of course, cuts. Those are the options Washington state lawmakers will weigh this month as they try to balance a budget deficit projected to be about a billion dollars through the middle of 2013.