BUSINESS BRIEFS
Sweet sales at ice cream shop
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Ben & Jerry's first Hawai'i ice cream shop at Ward Centre reported triple the daily sales average for the Mainland chain during the store's first three days of business.
Franchisee Ronni Tai See said the shop sold about 2,500 servings, or $10,000 worth of ice cream from Friday through Sunday.
Cherry Garcia is the chain's most popular flavor but was topped by Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough at the Ward location, Tai See said.
O'HARE AIRPORT BUSIEST IN NATION
CHICAGO — O'Hare International Airport was the nation's busiest airport in terms of air traffic during the first half of 2006, surpassing Atlanta's, the government reported yesterday.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had the second-most flights from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In third place was Dallas /Fort Worth International Airport.
O'Hare registered 477,001 flights, down 1.3 percent from last year but still enough to lead the list, according to the FAA. Atlanta registered 472,431 flights, down 5 percent.
MANUFACTURING SECTOR SLOWS
NEW YORK — The nation's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower rate than expected in June and construction spending plunged in May, reinforcing the belief of some analysts that increasing sluggishness in the economy will prompt the Federal Reserve to pause at last in its credit-tightening regime.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group based in Tempe, Ariz., said its manufacturing index registered 53.8 in June, slightly below the 54.4 reading in May. It was the slowest growth reading since the gauge registered 53.5 last August.
In Washington, meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that building activity dropped 0.4 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.20 trillion following a 0.2 percent decline in April.
