RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina’s unemployment rate is a fraction lower at 9.9 percent, sliding just out of the double-digit range for the first time since June.

The state Commerce Department said Tuesday that the jobless rate dropped in December for the third straight month. It was 10 percent in November.

North Carolina’s labor analysis division says the number of people on unemployment rolls fell by nearly 5,200 while the number of those with jobs increased by 9,500 to more than four million.

The state’s unemployment rate is now almost down to the level where it stood a year ago. It was 9.8 percent in December 2010.

The state’s rate is still higher than the national average of 8.5 percent, which dropped in December from 8.7 percent in November.

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– Stock index futures fell on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece’s debt crisis stumbled again and analysts pointed to a short-term top in equity markets after the S&P 500 posted five days of back-to-back gains.

Euro zone finance ministers rejected an offer by private bondholders to help restructure Greece’s debt, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of a messy Greek default.

“The Greek debt problem is weighing a bit this morning,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. “It’s back to worrying about whether Greece is heading for a soft, messy or technical default.”

However, Cardillo said some investors were taking profits after a strong market run, especially given the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement due Wednesday.

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So you are an expert, but are you really cut out to be an entrepreneur?  Is this what you really want to do, or is this a desperation tactic?  Entrepreneurship as a solution to employment is fast becoming a popular decision many are making.

There are many great resources to help you evaluate if, in fact, you are the right temperament and type of person to take entrepreneurship on. Here are a few of my favorites:

Entrepreneur.com SBA.gov Success.com

I recently interviewed Joe Abraham, author of Entrepreneurial DNA and the founder of the BOSI formula, which offers four personality types: builders, opportunists, specialists and innovators. A

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. Wall Street is opening slightly higher. Traders are weighing signs that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, could slide into a recession against reports that the International Monetary Fund could get more cash to help countries struggling with debts.

12:09 PST NEW YORK, –

Wall Street edged higher Wednesday following reports that the International Monetary Fund could get more cash to help countries struggling to manage their debt.

Stocks got another push from a surprisingly strong report on the housing market.

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Kraft Foods plans to shed about 1,600 positions this year as it reorganizes and prepares to split itself into two independent public companies by year end, the maker of iconic snacks such as Oreos and Ritz crackers said yesterday.

The move will reshuffle Krafts operations in East Hanover, where the food giant currently employs about 1,050 people, according to company spokesman Michael Mitchell. The company is relocating the business management functions of its Planters nut brand, about 38 positions, to the Chicago area, and will remake the East Hanover campus into the North American hub of its soon-to-be-launched global snack foods company.

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Federal prosecutors Monday said a Los Gatos video game developer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud.

But the man told this newspaper that part of the government’s announcement of the crime was inaccurate.

David Foley, 46, said he had agreed to sell his company, UltraCade Technologies, in 2005 to Global VR, a larger game developer based in San Jose. The $1.4 million cash deal included a provision for Foley to join Global VR as chief technology officer, he said.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said that after taking the new job, Foley continued to produce and sell “game packs” — thumb drives containing video game software that could be loaded onto arcade game machines for the home market — under the UltraCade name.

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