Productivity grew at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the smallest gain since late 2002, the Labor Department reported. The increase in productivity -- the amount an employee produces for every hour of work -- followed a 3.9 percent pace registered in the second quarter but was better than the 1.7 percent growth rate some economists were forecasting. In a second report, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week by a seasonally adjusted 19,000, to 332,000.
Heavier Fliers Costing Airlines More
America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom lines of airline companies as the extra pounds on passengers are causing a drag on planes, adding to fuel costs, a new government study says. Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans increased by 10 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn 350 million more gallons of fuel in 2000, the federal agency estimated in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Smithfield Foods, with headquarters in Smithfield, Va., bought meat processors in Poland and Romania for a combined $83 million. Smithfield's Animex Group, the largest meat processor in Poland, purchased Morliny, which has revenue of more than $100 million, said Smithfield, the world's largest hog and pork producer. It also bought Comtim Group, its second acquisition in Romania, which has production facilities with a capacity of 15,000 sows.
(Tamara Voninski -- Virginian-pilot Via AP)
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Altria Group is beginning to make the needed preparations to possibly split into several parts to maximize shareholder value, chief executive Louis C. Camilleri said. He suggested that the company would need to resolve three legal cases involving tobacco before the division, which could include spinning off Kraft Foods as a separate company.
Wachovia said it agreed to pay $37 million to settle disclosure violations with the Securities and Exchange Commission involving share purchases made during its merger with First Union. The two banks failed to disclose in regulatory filings the total number of First Union shares that Wachovia bought before the merger was complete, according to an SEC statement. Wachovia neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
Adelphia Communications cannot win its $3.2 billion lawsuit against founder John J. Rigas and his sons because the family used the money to benefit the company, the family's lawyer argued in court. Lawrence G. McMichael said the Rigases used the money to purchase cable companies at the request of directors and bought Adelphia securities to encourage other investors to do the same.
Viacom plans to bid for the rest of Internet site MarketWatch.com to gain full ownership of a financial news source for its CBS broadcast unit, the media company told the SEC. Viacom owns about 20 percent of MarketWatch, as does Pearson PLC.
Jurors who convicted the four former Merrill Lynch bankers and a former Enron finance executive heard from experts regarding investor losses stemming from the 1999 barge deal. The defendants could serve a matter of months or more than a dozen years, depending on whether the jury agrees with the government's contention that the loss exceeded $40 million or a defense expert who places any loss at less than $1 million.
SBC Communications and BellSouth will buy online directory publisher YellowPages.com through their Internet phone book joint venture. The companies said the acquisition will combine 50 million monthly searches, resulting in increased traffic to advertisers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Helen E. Holcomb will serve as interim president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the regional bank said. Holcomb, the bank's chief operating officer, will succeed Robert D. McTeer Jr., who is resigning to become chancellor of Texas A&M University. If no successor is chosen before Feb. 2, Holcomb will vote on interest rate policy at the Fed's Open Market Committee meeting.
Mortgage rates rose, Freddie Mac said. Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.70 percent for the week ended Nov. 4, up from 5.64 percent the week before. Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.08 percent from 5.01 percent, while rates for one-year adjustable rate mortgages increased to 4 percent from 3.96 percent.
