Employer-Paid

South Dakota's unemployment insurance system has recovered from the financial problems that plagued it during the recession, and businesses are once again starting to hire workers, state Labor Secretary Pam Roberts said Wednesday.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, a sign the job market isn't getting much better.

The House has passed legislation to extend provisions of a half-century-old program that helps workers hurt by foreign trade with retraining and financial aid.

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in the Senate promise additional votes on pieces of the president's $447 billion jobs bill, but how those pieces might be arranged and when the votes might be taken is up in the air.

Employers advertised fewer jobs in August than the previous month, a sign some may have pulled back on hiring plans in the face of wild stock market swings and renewed recession fears.

The effort may be futile, but Senate Republicans decided Tuesday to make one more attempt at settling their differences with House members on a business-incentive bill that has been the focal point of a six-week long special session.