Kroger says it will hire 20,000 more workers
NEW YORK – Supermarket chain Kroger said Friday it will hire about 20,000 workers to fill permanent jobs.
Kroger Co. is the largest U.S. supermarket operator. It left Pennsylvania years ago, but regionally, has stores in Elm Grove and Wellsburg in W.Va.
Kroger also runs Ralph’s, Fry’s and other chains.
The company had 375,000 full- and part-time employees as of Feb. 1. It said it created about 40,000 new jobs in the past six years.
Kroger said the jobs would be a mix of full- and part-time positions, but did not offer more specific details. The company said many of its entry-level jobs start as part-time positions and can turn into full-time jobs. It did not disclose the time frame for the hiring.
Shares of the Cincinnati company picked up 23 cents to $52.08 in midday trading.
HOUSTON – Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States increased by 11 this week to 1,925.
The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report that 1,584 rigs were exploring for oil and 340 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous.
A year ago, there were 1,767 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained seven rigs; Pennsylvania and New Mexico each gained two; and Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming each gained one.
Kansas lost two rigs and Colorado one.
West Virginia, Ohio, Alaska, California, Louisiana, North Dakota and Utah a were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.