Patrick Temple-West

WASHINGTON — Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley yesterday released a proposal for the state’s fiscal 2011 budget that would reduce reserve fund contributions and increase public debt by 7.1% over fiscal 2010.

West Virginia’s pension system reported last week its unfunded liabilities jumped by about $2 billion, or 41%, in fiscal 2009. The Consolidated Public Retirement Board said obligations to retirees in the state’s seven pension funds increased to $7 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30.

Virginia’s new governor, Robert F. McDonnell, told lawmakers on Monday the state must retain its business-friendly environment, in part by barring tax hikes in the fiscal 2011 and 2012 budget. The state faces a $4 billion budget shortfall.

WASHINGTON - The producer price index increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in December as year-over-year prices rose by the largest amount in 14 months, the Labor Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — The consumer price index increased 0.1% in December, nudged higher by used car and truck prices, the Labor Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON - The consumer price index increased 0.1% in December, nudged higher by used car and truck prices, the Labor Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — More than $200 million of toll revenue bonds issued by the Connector 2000 Association Inc. for a 16-mile toll road in Greenville County, S.C., defaulted on Jan. 1, in what sources said is the first public-private partnership default in the state.

WASHINGTON — U.S. import prices were flat in December, restrained by lower petroleum prices, as nonfuel imports increased for the fifth month in a row, the Labor Department reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON — Business inventories climbed 0.4% in November, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims increased by 11,000 to 444,000 for the week ending Jan. 9, the Labor Department reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON – Business inventories climbed 0.4% in November, the Commerce Department reported today.

WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims increased by 11,000 to 444,000 for the week ending Jan. 9 as continuing claims dropped by the largest amount in five weeks, the Labor Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — U.S. import prices were flat in December, restrained by lower petroleum prices, as nonfuel imports increased for the fifth month in a row, the Labor Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — The federal government posted a $91.9 billion budget deficit in December, the Treasury Department reported yesterday.

The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority today expects to issue $293 million of new-money and refunding bonds on behalf of Sentara Healthcare, the main health care provider for east Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

WASHINGTON – The federal government posted a $91.9 billion budget deficit in December, the Treasury Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit expanded in November to $36.4 billion, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as exports reached their highest level in a year, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. trade deficit expanded in November to $36.4 billion, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as exports reached their highest level in a year, the Commerce Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — Wholesale inventories jumped 1.5% in November, the largest increase in more than five years and the second consecutive monthly increase, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON — Employers shed 85,000 jobs in December, which was more than economists expected, but added 4,000 workers in November, the first monthly nonfarm payrolls increase in 22 months, the Labor Department reported Friday.