Nissan-Renault CEO Ghosn to chair Mitsubishi Motors
TOKYO – Carlos Ghosn, who heads Japan’s Nissan Motor and Renault of France, will become chairman of Mitsubishi Motors, working to restore faith in the troubled automaker after a devastating mileage scandal.
Ghosn, who presided over Nissan’s revival from the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s after it formed an alliance with Renault, said he expected it would be difficult to restore Mitsubishi’s shattered reputation. But the Brazilian-born Frenchman said he believed it was possible.
Jobless claims rise by 13,000 this week
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in five weeks but still remained close to the recent 43-year lows.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits rose by 13,000 last week to 260,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Even with last week’s gain, claims, which are a proxy for layoffs, it remains at levels indicating that workers are enjoying job security despite sluggish economic growth.
The increase in benefit applications was bigger than economists had been forecasting but some suggested that disruptions in filing applications earlier caused by Hurricane Matthew might have been a factor.
Mortgages for 30 years rise to 3.52 percent
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for a second straight week, reaching their highest levels since June.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.52 percent from 3.47 percent last week. But rates still remain near historic lows. The benchmark 30-year rate is down from 3.79 percent a year ago and close to its all-time low of 3.31 percent in November 2012.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, popular with homeowners who are refinancing, rose to 2.79 percent from 2.76 percent.
Home sales round despite tight supply
More Americans bought homes in September, many for the first time, despite a persistent shortage of properties for sale.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of existing homes rose 3.2 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million, the strongest pace since June.
The supply of available homes stood at 2.04 million units, down 6.8 percent from a year ago. Tight inventories drove the median price of existing homes up 5.6 percent from a year ago to $234,200.
Bicker over liquor: workers get Jim Beam contract offer
Striking Jim Beam workers upset over extended work hours to keep up with demand for the brand’s whiskeys were presented a new contract offer Thursday that includes a company pledge to hire more employees, a union official said.
About 250 union workers are scheduled to vote on the latest contract proposal Friday, said United Food and Commercial Workers union official Tommy Ballard. They walked off their jobs last Saturday at Jim Beam distilleries at Clermont and Boston in Kentucky.
The newest offer follows rounds of negotiations and a management listening session that allowed workers to voice grievances.
“They really listened to what we told them the issues were, and they came through on a lot of them,” Ballard said of the revised proposal.
Workers’ main complaint with the world’s leading bourbon producer was not money but time – the union wants to see more full-time workers hired, rather than a greater reliance on temporary workers.
The company’s newest offer includes a commitment to hire additional full-time staff in an effort to reduce overtime, Ballard said.
Union want court reversal of Wal-Mart trespass order
A labor union that has demonstrated against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a judge’s decision barring it from entering the retail giant’s property for anything other than shopping.
An attorney for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union argued that the National Labor Relations Board, not the Benton County judge, should have jurisdiction over the matter.
Wal-Mart had sought the order against the union and the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart in response to the group demonstrating and picketing at its stores over its pay and benefits.
George Wiszynski, the attorney for the union, said the Bentonville-based company’s trespassing complaint was nearly identical to one it had also filed with the national board.
“At the end of the day, Wal-Mart relied on the same conduct for its unfair labor practice, its National Labor Relations Board charge as it does for its lawsuit,” Wiszynski told justices.
Wal-Mart’s attorney, however, said trespassing is a state issue and was properly before the judge.