Central Illinois cities that want to be part of a massive clean-coal project are getting a look at what they need to host a carbon dioxide storage facility. The FutureGen Alliance released specifications for the facility Wednesday.
Citi selling $1.6B retail credit card assets to GE
Citigroup is selling $1.6 billion in retail credit card assets to GE Capital as the bank continues to shed smaller businesses to focus on its core consumer banking operations. Get the full story »
U.S.: Markets must be allowed to drive currencies
Failure by global institutions to make a coordinated push to persuade countries such as China to let their currencies’ value rise would endanger the global economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday. Get the full story »
Oct. 6, 2010 at 10:37 a.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, Jobs/employment, Labor American Airlines recalls 800 pilots, attendants
American Airlines is recalling about 800 furloughed employees, about 1 percent of its work force, as it adds flights on international routes. CEO Gerard Arpey announced the jobs as American launched a new trans-Atlantic business with British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia. American is working on a similar alliance with Japan Airlines across the Pacific.
Oct. 6, 2010 at 10:17 a.m.
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Filed under: Chicago executives, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV, Updated, Work culture Tribune Co. CEO: ‘Ignore noise’ of NY Times story
Randy Michaels, second from left, with other Tribune Co. executives at a press conference held by Sam Zell in 2007. (Jose More/Chicago Tribune)
Randy Michaels, Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.’s chief executive, on Tuesday night sent an e-mail urging employees to “ignore the noise” in anticipation of a New York Times story he expected to “apparently paint the work environment at Tribune as hostile, sexist and otherwise inappropriate.” Get the full story »
General Electric to acquire Dresser for $3 billion
General Electric Co. on Wednesday signed a deal to buy Dresser Inc. for about $3 billion, its latest deal to expand its product offerings in gas and other energy markets.
Report: Recession hit midsize cities harder this time
U.S. cities suffered more harm to their fiscal condition in the latest recession than during any other economic decline in nearly a quarter of a century, a survey released by the National League of Cities on Wednesday found.
And cities are just beginning to see the effect of the downturn that began at the end of 2007 on property taxes, though the recession officially ended in June 2009. Property taxes, a key revenue generator for cities, fell 1.8 percent in 2010 from 2009, according to the survey. Get the full story »
EU forges first Asian trade pact with S. Korea
The European Union and South Korea signed a free-trade deal Wednesday that could double trade between them and trigger more calls among Asian states for such pacts with the 27-nation bloc.
The accord, Europe’s first with an Asian nation, is set to take effect July 1 once ratified by the European Parliament. Get the full story »
Planned layoffs up slightly in private sector in Sept.
The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose slightly in September, though it was the second lowest level of the year, a report Wednesday said.
Employers announced 37,151 planned job cuts last month, up 7 percent from the 34,768 job cuts reported in August, according to the report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Get the full story »
Kohl’s latest to boost holiday hiring
Kohl’s Corp. is increasing its holiday hiring this season by 21 percent, another major retailer to boost its employee count this winter.
The department store chain said Wednesday it expects to hire more than 40,000 people this season, up from 33,000 last year. Get the full story »
New routes with American, BA, Iberia alliance
American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have announced new routes as they launch their trans-Atlantic business on Wednesday.
The three airlines say that the tie-up will give customers more access to cheaper fares, bigger choice of flight times and easier connections. Get the full story »
Shunning stocks? You’re in good company
MarksJarvis on Money | Do you think like a millionaire?
If you’ve been shunning stocks, you apparently do. Reuters is reporting that the head of research for Societe Generale’s private banking group — which works with people with millions — has said clients aren’t as interested in stocks as they were in the past.
Blue Cross, Advocate raise bar on accountability
The state’s largest health insurer and the area’s biggest medical-care provider have signed an agreement that holds doctors and hospitals more accountable for performance and quality service.
The three-year deal between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and Advocate Health Care, which operates 10 hospitals in Illinois, calls for Advocate to limit rate increases it negotiates from the insurance company. In addition, Advocate doctors and hospitals are being asked to meet performance targets tied to improved quality, safety and efficiencies of the medical care provided to patients covered by Illinois Blue Cross HMO and preferred-provider organization products. Get the full story »
MasterCard reports back-to-school uptick
Caution remained the name of the game for U.S. consumers in September, but there was an upswing in spending on back-to-school supplies and less expensive electronics, according to a report by MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse.
Clothing, electronics and online retailers all saw sales gains in September, SpendingPulse said, supporting Wall Street’s view that they got a boost from late back-to-school shopping that pushed sales from August. Get the full story »
