BUSINESS BRIEFS
30-year mortgage rates fall sharply, to 6.04 percent
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five weeks.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported yesterday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, down from 6.46 percent last week.
The decline pushed 30-year rates to the lowest level since they stood at 5.78 percent the week of Sept. 18.
According to the Freddie Mac survey, rates on other types of mortgages were mixed this week.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which are popular with people who are refinancing, fell to 5.72 percent, compared with 6.14 percent last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 6.06 percent, down from 6.14 percent last week.
However, rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.23 percent, up from 5.16 percent last week.
UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS RISING FAST
WASHINGTON — Unemployment claims, already well into recession territory, are rising even faster than expected, leading economists to warn yesterday that the worst is yet to come.
The Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance rose by 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000, above analysts' estimates of 470,000. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of recession.
The White House, in unusually stark language, acknowledged the economy is going through what spokeswoman Dana Perino called a "rough ride."
MORE JOB LOSSES AT CHRYSLER, GM
DETROIT — The employment carnage in the ever-shrinking U.S. auto industry continued yesterday as Chrysler LLC announced it would get rid of 1,825 factory jobs and General Motors Corp. trimmed some benefits and said it would make further white-collar cuts.
As the shaky U.S. economy speeds the industry's out-of-control slide, and tight credit cuts into sales, Auburn Hills-based Chrysler said the jobs will be eliminated at the end of the year when it closes a Newark, Del., sport utility vehicle plant ahead of schedule and eliminates a shift at a Toledo, Ohio, Jeep plant.
At GM, senior managers sent a memo to executives Wednesday saying early retirement and buyout offers to white-collar workers had been well-received but that the company still would have to make involuntary layoffs.
3,000 XEROX JOBS BEING ELIMINATED
SAN FRANCISCO — Xerox Corp. plans to cut 3,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, because a slowdown in orders from large U.S. companies has dragged down the printer and copier maker's profit margins.
The restructuring of the Norwalk, Conn.-based company announced yesterday will affect all departments except sales and is an example of how the economic turmoil is hurting companies outside the financial services industry.
Xerox shares slid 27 cents, or 3.4 percent, to end at $7.71.
Xerox had already been steadily cutting costs and jobs before the financial crisis dramatically worsened in the past month.
MICROSOFT PROFIT UP 2% IN QUARTER
SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. said yesterday its fiscal first-quarter profit edged up 2 percent, buoyed through economic uncertainty by corporate customers that renewed licenses for servers and other business programs.
Microsoft's guidance for the current quarter was weaker than Wall Street was expecting, but shares rose in extended trading following the report, a sign that investors had been worried it would be worse.
In the three months ending Sept. 30, Microsoft's earnings rose to $4.37 billion, or 48 cents per share, from $4.29 billion, or 45 cents per share in the same period last year.
