OHIO

Effort to Limit Cities' Moves on Wages

Ohio lawmakers passed a measure Wednesday to block cities from raising the local minimum wage above the state level, amid growing pressure in other states to raise such wages.

The Ohio measure was included in a broader bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature amid a flurry of legislative activity as the session winds down. A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. John Kasich wouldn't immediately say if he supports the measure or plans to sign the bill into law.

Ohio's minimum wage is set to go from $8.10 an hour currently to $8.15 next year, above the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which took effect in 2009.

An Ohio limit could have an immediate effect on Cleveland, where residents are set to vote in May on whether to increase the local minimum wage to $12 an hour in 2018, and to $15 an hour within three years after that.

About 22 states have adopted wage pre-emption laws in recent years, according to the National Employment Law Project, which backs higher minimum wages. That has sparked legal challenges in Alabama and Missouri to block the limits on cities and local governments and ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage.

--Kris Maher

ECONOMY

OECD Sees Growth Accelerating in 2017

The U.S. economy was on course for a pickup in economic growth even before Donald Trump's victory in November's presidential election, according to leading indicators released Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Paris-based research body's gauges of future activity also showed firmer signs of a pickup in growth across a number of large developing countries, as well as the U.K. and France. Taken together, they suggest 2017 will mark an acceleration from the lackluster pace of expansion recorded this year.

As recently as May, the leading indicators for the U.S. were pointing to a slowdown in growth. They then switched to signal a stabilization, but October marks the first month this year in which they point to a pickup.

Changes in asset prices since Mr. Trump's election indicate that investors expect U.S. growth and inflation to increase next year in response to a promised boost to infrastructure spending and tax cuts.

--Paul Hannon

HEALTH

E-Cigarettes Found To Pose 'Major' Risks

The U.S. surgeon general called surging e-cigarette use by children and young adults "a major public health concern" and recommended increased regulation and taxation of the products in a report.

The report joins a public debate about the potential benefits and risks of e-cigarettes, which are battery-powered devices that heat nicotine-laced liquid into a vapor. Some groups, including industry advocates and the Royal College of Physicians in the U.K., have argued that e-cigarettes should be promoted as a means to help adults quit smoking conventional cigarettes.

--Jennifer Maloney

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 09, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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