Aerotek raises wages by a dollar an hour
Volkswagen plant contract hiring firm Aerotek said Friday it has upped the average starting pay for plant production workers to $14.50 per hour as it tries to hire 400 more people.
In December, Aerotek said starting pay was $13.50 per hour.
Raising the starting pay gives workers the potential to make an average of $17 per hour after one year of employment, according to Aerotek.
Aerotek has been hiring hundreds of production workers over the past few months to work on the new Atlas sport utility vehicle as VW tries to get up to about 3,400 employees at its Chattanooga plant.
Interested candidates should call the local Aerotek office for more information at 423-242-2620, or go online at www.aerotektn.com to apply.
Toshiba spins off unit to offset U.S. nuke loss
TOKYO – Toshiba Corp. said it will split its lucrative flash memory business to make up for losses from its troubled U.S. nuclear business, and is looking for a third-party capital injection.
The company said its board approved the plan Friday to sell an unspecified stake in its chip operation to make up for losses from its nuclear operations in the U.S.
Tokyo-based Toshiba is one of the major Japanese industrial conglomerates whose nuclear sectors have struggled since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Last year it also said it could book an impairment loss of “several billion dollars” in its U.S. nuclear business.
Economic growth slows to 1.9 percent in quarter
The U.S. economy lost momentum in the final three months of 2016 as a downturn in exports temporarily depressed activity. But there were hopeful signs in housing and business investment that the economy will rebound in the coming months.
The gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of just 1.9 percent in the October-December period, a slowdown from 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
GDP, the broadest measure of economic health, was held back by a swing in trade with exports of soybeans plunging in the fourth quarter after having surged in the third quarter.
American Airlines profits fall but beat expectations
American Airlines’ fourth-quarter profit fell but met Wall Street expectations, and a key measurement of revenue trends rose for the first time since late 2014, further evidence that airlines are finally starting to push average prices higher.
American executives echoed officials at other airlines in reporting that demand for travel has picked up since the November election.
With Trump administration in place, American officials also said they would revive a previously rejected bid to work more closely with Australian carrier Qantas. The airlines want to work together on setting prices and schedules, which is forbidden without an exemption from antitrust laws. The Obama administration rejected immunity for the deal.