BUSINESS BRIEFS
Poor December retail sales may hike bankruptcies
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Major retailers reported dismal December sales yesterday, stepping up store closings and making new bankruptcy filings likely in coming months.
Department and specialty stores were the hardest hit, but the recession is starting to take a toll on discounters. Wal-Mart, about the only retailer to increase sales, had a worse-than-expected 1.7 percent sales jump. The discounter warned investors yesterday that its fourth-quarter profits will be lower than it predicted, and that January sales may be flat.
Almost all retailers have posted declining sales for several months.
Macy's said its sales were down 4 percent and announced plans to close 11 stores — from Indianapolis to Palm Beach. Warnings by regional department store chain Gottschalks that it could run out of cash by month's end became public this week. Gottschalks' sales were down 9.6 percent. Bon-ton Stores, another regional department store, posted dire results, too, with sales down 5.8 percent.
MADOFF CHECKS FOR $173 MILLION FOUND
NEW YORK — Prosecutors said yesterday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.The detail was provided in a court filing yesterday as prosecutors argued that Madoff should have his bail revoked and be sent to jail. They said the checks were further evidence that he wants to keep his assets away from burned investors in a more than $50 billion fraud.
In the filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said Madoff cannot be trusted because he had long engaged in a "scheme that required the defendant to lie routinely to thousands of people and a scheme which has caused extraordinary damage to individuals, families, and institutions all over the world."
NEW WORK TOUGH TO FIND FOR JOBLESS
WASHINGTON — The number of laid-off workers who are continuing to draw unemployment checks jumped more than expected to 4.6 million at the end of December and is likely to keep climbing this year — fresh evidence that people are finding it increasingly difficult to get a new job amid a deepening recession.The Labor Department's report Thursday also said first-time applications for jobless benefits dropped to 467,000 last week. But economists largely described that decline as a distortion, reflecting the government's difficulty in making seasonal adjustments over the holiday period.
Even with the dip, the figure still signaled trouble in the labor market. A year ago, initial claims stood at 330,000. Persistent economic woes — housing, credit and financial crises — along with a flurry of layoff announcements in the opening days of 2009 all point to another terrible year for jobseekers, economists said.
With employers throttling back hiring, the unemployment rate is expected to jump from 6.7 percent in November to 7 percent in December.
CITIGROUP DEAL FIGHTS FORECLOSURES
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers have reached a deal with Citigroup Inc. on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter home loans in an effort to prevent foreclosures and urged other lenders to follow suit.The lawmakers aim to attach the plan to President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus legislation, and said yesterday the change in bankruptcy law could ease the foreclosure crisis that has dragged the economy into the worst recession in decades.
The compromise between Citigroup and Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois, Charles Schumer and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut would be limited to loans made before the bill is signed.
JOB CUTS ARRIVE AT OILFIELD SERVICES
HOUSTON — Job cuts that have hit almost every sector of the economy reached into the oil industry yesterday, as the biggest oilfield service providers said they were cutting employees.Schlumberger Ltd., the world's largest oilfield services company, will cut up to 1,000 jobs in North America, or about 5 percent of its work force, and is looking at cuts elsewhere globally.
Halliburton Co. also said it would begin cutting workers but didn't say how many or when. Both firms are based in Houston, a city that has boomed as oil prices soared. Schlumberger said up to 100 jobs would be cut in Houston, where it employs 5,000.
During the fourth quarter, crude tumbled from $100 a barrel to $40. That was in sharp contrast to the rest of 2008, when oil prices soared and producers posted record profits.
