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SAN JOSE, Calif. - Silicon Valleys economy has revved up thanks to plucky Internet and alternative energy startups, according to a new report.

Local technology companies created 33,000 jobs last year the first increase since 2001, a year after the dot-com downturn. The regions median household income jumped to $76,300 last year, representing a 6.5 percent increase from 2005 and the first uptick since 2001. It decreased 13 percent from 2001 to 2004.

Researchers from Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, an alliance of business and community institutions, will discuss the report Friday at the annual State of the Valley conference. Former Vice President Al Gore will deliver a keynote speech about green technology.

We saw the first evidence the downturn was behind us, said Russell Hancock, Joint Venture chief executive. Weve reinvented ourselves.

Researchers define Silicon Valley as a region with 2.4 million people in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, and parts of Alameda and Santa Cruz counties.

The report noted the diversity of Silicon Valley, where English is spoken exclusively in only 52 percent of households.

Yet researchers remained troubled by the valleys racial and ethnic divide. While Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs have excelled, Hispanics, blacks and southeast Asians have had a tougher time in the tech industry.

Also troubling: High school graduation rates have stalled, juvenile crime has increased, health insurance is out of reach for a growing number of residents, and housing costs force many families out of state. 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The Japanese economy grew at a faster pace than previously thought in the three months to December, expanding by 1.3 pct from the previous quarter, compared to the initial reading of 1.2 pct, a revised report from the Cabinet office showed.

On an annualized basis, the economy expanded 5.5 pct in the December quarter, also faster than the 4.8 pct growth reported earlier.

The gross domestic product deflator for the quarter fell 0.5 pct year-on-year, in line with the preliminary reading.

(1 usd = 118.37 yen)

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TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Authorities on Thursday defined three areas in southwest Albania for the construction of gas terminals and power plants, aiming to become a transit point for international gas networks and overcome a power crisis in the former communist country.

Three companies will build terminals for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, on areas covering 60, 120 and 30 hectares (148, 296 and 74 acres) around Vjosa River in Fieri district, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Tirana, the government said in a statement.

Swiss EGL, Dutch-based Trans European Energy and international consortium ASG Power SA have been authorized to build the terminals and power plants, and were expected to apply soon for construction licenses, officials said.

The projects will supply Albania with power, as well as providing gas and power through international connections to the European grid.

Authorities could now say exactly when the projects would start, or how much investment they entailed. The ASG Powers SA, based in Lugano, Switzerland, and Trans European Energy would likely start their projects this year, said Gjergj Bojaxhi, vice minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. EGL was more interested in building a gas pipeline, he said.

Liquefied natural gas is transported by being cooled and condensed into a liquid form. It is stored at receiving terminals until it can be converted back into a gaseous form and delivered via pipeline to customers.

Albania has suffered power cuts during post-communist period since 1990.

Last month the Albanian Electro-Energy Corp., known as KESH, signed a euro92 million (US$121.6 million) contract with Italy’s Maire Engineering SpA to build a 100 MWh oil-based thermo-power plant in Vlora, 140 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Tirana, completing it in two years.

The Vlora plant will also be supplied with gas from the Fieri terminals.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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THREE firefighters have been sacked after hundreds of students were left outside their accommodation in freezing weather following a false alarm.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said that, after an internal investigation and disciplinary proceedings, three staff had been dismissed. A further two have received final written warnings.

On 21 November, a fire crew was called to what turned out to be a false alarm at Buchanan View student accommodation in Calgary Street, Glasgow.

The crew, from Cowcaddens Fire Station, arrived just after midnight and no fire was discovered in the building. But students were not allowed back in until 3am, with no explanation given for the delay. One student was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.

Another student, John Houston, said: “When the fire alarm went off, we went outside and there were three fire engines there. It had started raining and was very cold. After about 40 minutes, we were told that we might have to wait another one and a half hours to get back in.

“All the people waiting outside were obviously very annoyed and the rain was getting heavier. I had on a T-shirt, jumper and my coat, but I was still very cold.”

Eight firefighters were suspended following the incident. Five have been disciplined, with no action against the other three. A Strathclyde Fire and Rescue spokesman said the disciplinary action followed “a number of complaints from members of the public about the conduct of some of our personnel”.

Nine other officers from the same station were disciplined in a separate incident last summer when they refused to hand out leaflets at a gay-pride march.

They were given written warnings about their conduct and were ordered to take part in diversity training. The latest incident led to a string of complaints from students about the conduct of the fire crew.

Unite, which owns and manages the student accommodation, said it had been obliged to pass on the concerns to the service. A spokeswoman said: “Whilst no fire was discovered, the conduct by some members of the fire brigade team was reported by some of the resident students.

“Unite’s priority is for the welfare and safety of the customers, especially as many of them are living away from home for the first time. We were, therefore, obligated to process these complaints with the fire brigade.

“Unite has worked closely with the fire brigade during their thorough investigation and appreciate the professionalism shown by all parties concerned.

“We respect the fire brigade’s decision and will continue to work closely with them to ensure the continued safety and welfare of our customers.”

But union leaders expressed concern at the sacking of three officers. Ken Ross, the Scottish secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “We are extremely disappointed the Strathclyde brigade has taken this action.

“We will be fully supporting these officers as they appeal against their dismissals.”

Mr Ross said the union had growing concerns about the way disciplinary procedures were being handled.

He said five firefighters had lost their jobs in Scotland in the past three months, compared with just one in the previous 13 years.

“We are concerned that there is a change in how management are dealing with complaints and the actions that they are taking,” Mr Ross said.

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Paul Tucker, a rate-setter at the Bank of England, hinted that interest rates in the UK are nearing levels at which they will really bite into economic activity.

In a speech at a Merrill Lynch conference, Tucker said monetary conditions — a base rate of 5.25 pct and a modestly sloping money market curve — are “edging towards being restrictive” so long as inflation falls back as expected in the near term.

“That has been appropriate given the degree of pricing power apparently emergent in conditions of high capacity utilisation among firms,” he said.

“It has provide the platform needed going forward to restrain inflation pressures, and to maintain anchored inflation expectations, at a time when, understandably there is public debate about the outlook given that CPI inflation rose above 3 pct for the first time, triggering an open letter from the Governor (Mervyn King) to the Chancellor (Gordon Brown),” he added.

Looking ahead, he said his votes on the Monetary Policy Committee will “depend on balancing the medium-term prospect for demand pressures alongside uncertainties about supply conditions and near-term inflation expectations caused by volatility in energy costs”.

He added that this will entail making judgements about a whole range of influences, including whether or not residual slack in the labour market might in time, given robust business investment, help to ease capacity constraints.

He also said it will depend on whether competitive conditions among retailers will dampen the feed through of accelerating producer prices into consumer prices and whether wage bargainers and price setters recognise the “absolute determination” of the MPC to maintain price stability.

Tucker, widely considered an arch hawk at the time of the January rate hike, also explained why he voted to keep rates on hold at the start of the year.

“CPI inflation had risen quite sharply, but was, and I should say, still is, also expected to fall back quite sharply towards the 2 pct target,” he said.

“Provided that broadly ‘humped’ path for inflation materialised over the coming months, the upside risk to medium-term inflation expectations seemed likely to subside,” he added.

He denied that his vote against the hike was a a matter of his wanting to avoid surprising the markets, which in the “greater scheme of things is neither here nor there”.

Rather, Tucker said he was concerned that an immediate move might cause “unnecessary confusion” among the committee’s view of the medium-term outlook for inflation and about monetary strategy.

“In the event, subsequent speeches by colleagues and the medium-term perspective of the February Inflation Report, helped to keep that genie in the bottle,” he said.

Tucker also revealed that he was “strongly” in favour of widening the width of the Inflation Report’s fan chart for inflation in the coming year in February “to underline the near-term uncertainty about, and the great difficulty in forecasting, the path of utility prices”.

It was “vital”, he said, to convey the medium-term prospect and “also that we stand ready to act if the risks warranted it”.

pan.pylas@thomson.com

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