Dreamliner takes off; jobless rate hits record

Boeing's first new commercial airplane in years took to the skies above Seattle.

The 787's three-hour check ride drew attention from all corners of the world, including the Lowcountry, where Boeing plans to open an assembly line for the 787 in North Charleston. Boeing and Global Aeronautica already make pieces of the new jet at Charleston International. Workers at the companies took in the flight on big screen TVs, cheering on the 787 as it left the ground for the first of many flights to come.

For the record

South Carolina's jobless rate hit its highest mark on record last month, climbing to 12.3 percent as employers shed jobs and the size of the labor force grew. It was the highest since the Employment Security Commission began tracking the data in 1976. For the Charleston region, the jobless rate rose to 10.1 percent from 9.9 percent in October.

Incoming!

Department store operator Belk began importing the first of more than 1,000 containers of clothing, accessories and housewares that it will bring through the Port of Charleston annually. Charleston snagged the business from other ports in the Southeast and on the West Coast, according to officials.

Outgoing!

The trickle of BMW imports coming through Union Pier slowed to a near stop, as the Port of Baltimore said it will handle 50,000 cars a year that previously were shipped to the Holy City. BMW officials say about 10,000 of their imports will move through Charleston now, a tenth of their 2007 levels.

A Pedro protege?

The Pee Dee claimed fresh bragging rights to perhaps its most famous native son, a onetime South of the Border worker whose views of the economy can move the world's financial markets. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who was raised in Dillon, was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2009 for his handling of the financial crisis.

Class not dismissed

A legal dispute stemming from the $66 million investment fraud masterminded by Al Parish will be resolved through the courts, not private arbitration. Judge David C. Norton approved class-action status for a lawsuit filed by Parish victims who also had retirement accounts through brokerage giant Charles Schwab.

Under contract

AT&T said it struck a tentative agreement with the 32,000 union laborers who handle its land-line operations in the Southeast, including more than 400 in Charleston. The contract between the telecom giant and the Communications Workers of America expired in August, but employees have continued working under the previous arrangement.