The Federal Reserve slashed a key short-term interest rate to effectively zero yesterday, and signaled that it will “employ all available tools” to try to arrest the nation’s economic freefall.

This news comes as the nation is entrenched in the longest-running recession of the past 25 years.

As the economy continues to retract, more and more people are holding on to their wallets. Many employers have been forced to eliminate jobs.

Good news was announced earlier this week in that Foster Farms will expand its Demopolis plant for a second time.

The enhancement of existing production lines will involve a $2.1-million-plus capital investment. Construction will begin Feb. 1 and is expected to be completed by March 31 of 2009. Thirty new jobs will be created.

This is certainly good news to the local economy. As many Linden Lumber, Inc. employees continue to seek employment, there is now an opportunity for them to find jobs in the same county.

In today’s depressed economic climate good news can be hard to come by, but creating new jobs is the best kind of news.