byline: Jessica Sabbath

The number of IT jobs grew 0.4 percent last month, according to TechServe Alliance.

IT employment in the nation reached 4.6 million jobs, according to the Alexandria-based national trade association for the IT and engineering staffing group.

On a year-to-year basis, IT employment grew 2.83 percent between January 2014 and the previous year.

Engineering jobs grew 0.13 percent in January to 2.5 million jobs. Engineering employment rose 1.61 percent when compared with the previous year.

The take: Revenues for coal miner Alpha Natural Resources dropped 29.8 percent in the fourth quarter as the company faced falling demand for metallurgical and steam coal. In turn, coal prices have fallen as well. Coal shipments during the fourth quarter were 4.4 million tons, compared with 4.9 million tons during the fourth quarter of 2012.

The coal industry has been struggling as it competes with low natural gas prices, increased regulation of its industry and an over-supply of some types of coal.

Revenues: Sales during the fourth quarter were $1.09 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. For the full year, revenues fell 29 percent. In 2013, revenues fell 29 percent to $6.97 billion from $4.95 billion in 2012.

Net income: Alpha Natural Resources’ loss widened to $358.8 million, or $1.62 per share, from $127.6 million, or 58 cents per share, during the same period the year before.  The company’s full-year loss narrowed from $2.4 billion to $1.1 billion.

The company’s take:  Kevin Crutchfield, chairman and CEO of Alpha Natural Resources: “2013 was a challenging year for Alpha and the coal industry.  After completing an extensive restructuring initiative in 2012, we announced further cost reductions in the fall of 2013 to better match our production and overhead expenses with current and anticipated market conditions.  These are always difficult decisions because they affect employees and their families, but they are necessary in these challenging times.  We have also actively managed our balance sheet to improve financial flexibility and enhance cyclical resilience by opportunistically accessing the capital markets and agreeing to monetize a portion of our Marcellus shale gas acreage.”

Virginia’s manufacturing employment rose 1 percent last year, according to an industrial directory of Manufacturers’ News Inc.

The 2014 Virginia Manufacturers Directory reports that Virginia employers added 3,001 jobs between November 2012 and the same month last year, an increase of about 1 percent.

The report says that Virginia has 6,346 manufacturers employing 332,789 workers.

“With its educated workforce and access to capital, manufacturers in Virginia continue to make gains, particularly in the transportation sector,” Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturing News, said in a statement.

Employment in the transportation equipment industry was highest for the commonwealth among industrial jobs. Job growth in the industry rose 14 percent in Virginia last year.

Newport News is the state’s top city for manufacturing employment, with 28,228 jobs, up 11 percent on a year-to-year basis. Richmond ranks second with 27,621 jobs, down 1.5 percent form last year.

Roanoke has 10,553 industrial jobs, which was up 0.5 percent, according to the report. Lynchburg accounts for 10,001 industrial jobs, up 1 percent over the past 12 months.