U.S. consumer prices increased slightly more than expected in August as food prices rebounded and energy costs remained elevated, but core prices were flat, a government report showed on Friday. Get the full story »
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Head of consumer agency promises to be ‘tough cop’
Elizabeth Warren, Obama's choice to head new U.S. consumer agency. (AP)
The Harvard professor President Barack Obama is putting in charge of a new consumer protection agency says people need a “tough cop on the beat” to protect them from financial industry abuses.
Obama was naming Elizabeth Warren on Friday as a special adviser to both him and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The financial regulatory bill Obama signed into law this year created the bureau to be an advocate for consumers in their dealings with banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions.
FDA panel rejects diet drug lorcaserin
An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted against recommending an experimental diet drug known as lorcaserin be approved for marketing.
In a first of several votes to be taken this afternoon, only five members of the panel voted that the drug’s potential benefits to overweight Americans outweigh risks. Nine voted against the drug’s benefits-to-risks ratio. Get the full story »
New jobless claims fall to lowest in 2 months
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week to its lowest level in two months, a sign that employers are cutting fewer jobs.
The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for jobless benefits fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 450,000, the third decline in four weeks. Many economists had expected an increase. Get the full story »
State hires Northstar to run Illinois lottery
The state will pay a private company at least $15 million a year to take over day-to-day operations at the Illinois Lottery, but none of the department’s 170 workers will lose their jobs as a result.
U.S. finds bias against women at Tyson plant
An Illinois meatpacking plant discriminated against women seeking entry-level jobs, the U.S. Labor Department charged in an administrative complaint filed Wednesday.
The plant is owned by a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc. The Labor Department said Tyson has made biased hiring decisions at the facility since at least January 2003, when the agency first audited the plant. The alleged discrimination has resulted in the rejection of more than 750 female applicants.
The plant is located in Joslin, which is near the Quad Cities. Get the full story »
Search for McCormick Place manager begins
The state-mandated McCormick Place revamp moved into a second phase Wednesday with the launch of a search for a private management firm to run the convention center.
This comes on the heels of broad moves to cut exhibitors’ costs for electrical and food services and to give them greater leeway to do their own booth work. Get the full story »
Boeing rejects bid to tie WTO case to Airbus’
The Boeing Co. rejected suggestions Tuesday that an imminent ruling by the world’s top trade court on allegations that the Chicago plane maker received billions in illegal subsidies should be tied to a similar case against its biggest rival Airbus.
The European company claims Boeing’s case before the World Trade Organization is key to resolving a wider dispute over government aid to aircraft manufacturers. Airbus was found by the Geneva tribunal to have gained an unfair advantage through billions in low-interest loans, infrastructure provisions and research and development grants. Get the full story »
August retail sales gain largest in 5 months
Sales at U.S. retailers increased more than expected in August, notching their largest gain in five months on strong receipts at gasoline stations and clothing outlets, according to a government report that further assuaged fears of a double-dip recession. Get the full story »
U.S. budget deficit slims to $90.5B
The U.S. posted a $90.53 billion budget deficit in August, Treasury Department data showed Monday.
The August deficit was slightly below the $95 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters, and smaller than the $103.56 billion gap a year earlier.
The department said the gap for fiscal 2010, which ends at the end of this month, was $1.260 trillion, smaller than the $1.371 trillion posted for the first 11 months of fiscal 2009.
Senate weighs copyrights for fashion
U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation intended to protect fashion designs from knockoffs, but some experts say the proposed rules could do more harm than good to the industry and consumers.
The proposed law, which has bipartisan support, would protect unique designs for three years. For a knockoff to be considered a copyright infringement, it must be so similar that it is likely to be mistaken for a protected design. Get the full story »
Chicago’s AA credit rating slipping away
From Bloomberg News | With a 2011 budget deficit projected at more than $650 million, the City of Chicago’s credit rating is in danger of sinking further. In fact, it already paid a premium in an August bond offering for schools.
“They’re a AA rated borrower that is trading as if it was rated A,” said Richard Saperstein, managing director at Hightower Advisors Treasury Partners in Chicago told Bloomberg. “This means they’re in line for a downgrade. The market is telling you something.” Get the full story >>
Russell 1000, ETFs added to ‘flash crash’ halts
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules Friday to expand the trading halts it implemented after the May 6 “flash crash” and to harmonize stock exchanges’ procedures for breaking erroneous trades. Get the full story »
Sep. 10, 2010 at 2:04 p.m.
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Filed under: Agriculture/Farming, Food, Government, Litigation USDA sued over genetically altered sugar beets
Groups opposed to genetically modified foods have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday over the agency’s recent decision to allow limited plantings of altered sugar beets. Get the full story »
