Phone and bank stocks up as Dow reaches new high
Stocks posted slight gains on Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to another record, helped by shares of telecommunications companies such as Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.
Telecommunications stocks were among the biggest gainers, helped by a myriad of company-specific news. Verizon climbed 61 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.36 and AT&T rose 72 cents, or 2 percent, to $39.35. Overall, the telecom sector of the S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent.
Small companies and bank stocks also rose as investors continue to speculate that U.S. economic growth will pick up under the incoming Trump administration.
Leclerc Foods adds 105 jobs in Kingsport
Leclerc Foods announced Tuesday that the food producer will establish its U.S. headquarters in Kingsport, Tenn. and expand production operations.
Leclerc Foods is investing approximately $49 million to establish a second facility in Kingsport and create 105 new jobs. The facility will include a new manufacturing line for granola bars, warehousing and distribution space as well as Leclerc Foods’ U.S. headquarters operations.
“Companies in the food and beverage industry have invested more than $2 billion in Tennessee during the past six years, creating more than 6,500 jobs,” said Randy Boyd, commissioner for Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
Founded in 1905, Leclerc Foods is a leader in the cookie, snack bar and cracker industry. The Canadian food manufacturer employs more than 650 people in six facilities and distributes its products to roughly 20 different countries.
Alaska Airlines gets OK to buy Virgin America
WASHINGTON – Alaska Airlines has won government approval to buy rival Virgin America after agreeing to reduce its flight-selling partnership with American Airlines.
Parent company Alaska Air Group Inc. said Tuesday that it expects to close the $2.6 billion deal soon.
Seattle-based Alaska is the nation’s sixth-biggest airline, and California-based Virgin is eighth. Together, they will become the fifth-biggest.
SeaWorld cuts 320 jobs to reduce expenses
ORLANDO, Fla. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. is eliminating 320 jobs across the company.
The company said the goal of the restructuring is to reduce costs and improve the company’s operations. The cuts involve both salaried and hourly workers.
SeaWorld makes the move after struggling with falling attendance and revenue in the face of a campaign by animal-rights activists.
The company has parks in Florida, Texas, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Ikea expanding parental leave; crib assembly still your job
NEW YORK – Ikea’s U.S. division is offering longer parental leave to employees who are new parents, following similar overtures from tech companies like Netflix as it strives to keep good workers in an improving job market.
The ready-to-assemble furniture chain said Tuesday it will offer its 13,000 salaried and hourly employees in the U.S. up to four months of paid parental leave. Effective Jan. 1, the policy will apply to mothers and fathers who are birth, adoptive or foster parents.
Ikea had previously given women giving birth five days of paid leave in addition to six to eight weeks of paid disability leave.
Productivity up 3.1 percent during third quarter
The productivity of American workers rose in the July-September quarter at the fastest pace in two years while labor costs slowed after a big jump in the spring.
Productivity increased in the third quarter at a 3.1 percent rate, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. That followed three quarterly declines and was the best showing since the third quarter of 2014. Labor costs edged up at a 0.7 percent rate in the third quarter following a much faster 6.2 percent jump in the second quarter.
The rebound in productivity was expected to be temporary.
Court upholds verdict against State Farm
A unanimous Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a jury verdict that State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. committed fraud against the federal government after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
The justices on Tuesday rejected claims by State Farm that the whistleblower case against the insurer should have been dismissed because its existence was leaked while it was supposed to be secret.
Sisters Cori and Kerry Rigsby filed the fraud lawsuit on behalf of the government after they said they witnessed State Farm shifting Mississippi claims to federal flood insurance that should have been paid by private wind insurance.