British employers will no longer be allowed to force people to retire at 65 years old, unless they can justify the dismissal, the government said Thursday in a bid to lessen pension payouts as Britons live for longer.
The move was welcomed by nonprofit organizations campaigning against age discrimination. Others, however, complained that the move will make it expensive for employers to continue to provide benefits such as health or life insurance to employees older than 65. Get the full story »
Postal rates will go up in April, but the cost of sending the basic letter will remain the same.
The Postal Service said Thursday that most rates will go up April 17 under a formula that allows the agency to increase prices within the rate of inflation. Get the full story »
Some of the United States’ top bankers descended on a law firm in Manhattan on Thursday to make a pitch for managing what could be one of the largest share sales in history — a secondary offering for bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc.
JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon was among the executives attending the meeting. Dimon entered the building of law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP just after 9:30 a.m. EST in New York. Asked how the meeting went as he left, Dimon laughed and said: “How’d what go?” Get the full story »
Supporters of U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is suspected in one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. history, said Thursday that Web site WikiLeaks has fulfilled its pledge to aid in his defense by contributing $15,100, the Associated Press reported.
The Bradley Manning Support Network announced the gift. Get the full story »
U.S. health regulators are requesting a limit on the amount of acetaminophen in prescription pain medicines to curb the risk of liver damage.
The move announced on Thursday aims to limit combination drugs such as the opioids Percocet and Vicodin to 325 milligrams of acetaminophen per pill and calls for them to carry a “black box” warning about potential liver failure. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The agency that runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier will cut more than half of its corporate staff as it splits off management operations of Navy Pier and turns over management of McCormick Place to a private operator.
Houston-based engineering and military contracting company KBR Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) expects to generate less than a fifth of its 2011 revenue from U.S. military logistics, though the engineering company said that will be more than it had previously anticipated.
KBR Chief Executive Bill Utt said Thursday that the $280 million acquisition of Chicago-based Roberts & Schaefer, a bulk material handling and processing specialist in mining, power and refining, would contribute 11 cents a share to KBR’s 2011 earnings.
KBR has focused more on engineering projects for the energy and mining industries to offset the lost military work. Get the full story »
Chicago-based Boeing Company has named Kim Hammonds as chief information officer and vice president of its information technology organization.
Hammonds succeeds John Hinshaw, who is becoming vice president and general manager of the new information solutions unit in Boeing Defense, Space & Security. She’ll be responsible for all IT strategy, systems, infrastructure, architecture, processes and people companywide.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is potentially interested in Sara Lee and could possibly partner with an interested party as bidders emerge for the food group, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
A spike in oil and food costs pushed wholesale prices up last month by the biggest amount in nearly a year, a trend that could threaten the still-fragile global economy.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in November as exports climbed to the highest level in more than two years, government data showed on Thursday.
The trade gap dipped to $38.3 billion from $38.4 billion in October, the Commerce Department reported. Analysts surveyed before the report had expected the November trade deficit to widen slightly to $40.5 billion from October’s originally reported $38.7 billion. Get the full story »
Fiat has made fast progress toward clearing a second benchmark in restructuring Chrysler that could take its ownership in the U.S. automaker to 30 percent. Get the full story »
Rates on fixed mortgages dipped for the second straight week as Treasury yields fell. Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year mortgage dropped to 4.71 percent this week from 4.77 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November. Get the full story »
The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it is launching a pilot program to deliver income tax refunds on debit cards for low- and moderate-income people who do not have traditional bank accounts.
The Visa prepaid debit cards are designed to allow these taxpayers to receive their refunds much faster than with a paper check and avoid high fees for cashing those checks at currency exchanges or payday loan stores. Get the full story »
A vacant home in Chicago Lawn, Feb. 16, 2009. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Bank repossessions of foreclosed homes in the Chicago region soared almost 20 percent, to more than 45,000 properties in 2010, despite various government and lender programs designed to keep people in their properties and a slowdown in fourth-quarter activity due to investigations of foreclosure procedures, new data show.
According to RealtyTrac, the online marketplace for foreclosure properties, 45,555 homes became bank-owned last year in the area between the Wisconsin border and northwest Indiana.
Also during the year, mortgage servicers filed 83,429 initial notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process.
In the Chicago area last year, foreclosure filings totaled 80,618 in Cook County; 10,646 in DuPage; 9,041 in Kane; 2,612 in Kendall; 11,026 in Lake; 5,385 in McHenry; and 11,027 in Will. Get the full story »
