7. Income Taxes

A reconciliation of the continuing operations statutory federal tax rate of 35.0% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013 is summarized as follows:


	Three Months Ended
	September 30,
	2014		2013
Federal income tax at statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%
State and local taxes, net of federal benefit	5.9		6.0
Jobs tax credits, net	(9.7	)	(6.6	)
Nondeductible meals and entertainment	1.1		1.0
Effective income tax rate	32.3	%	35.4	%


	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
	2014		2013
Federal income tax at statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%
State and local taxes, net of federal benefit	5.9		6.0
Jobs tax credits, net ⁽¹⁾	(8.9	)	(10.8	)
Nondeductible meals and entertainment	0.6		0.8
Effective income tax rate	32.6	%	31.0	%

(1)

Included in the jobs tax credit for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 was a one-time benefit of a 7.2% reduction from the Companys statutory tax rate for the jobs tax credits earned in 2012 but not recorded until 2013. The federal employment opportunity tax credits were reinstated in 2013 and were not an allowable deduction in 2012.