BUSINESS BRIEFS
GM pleased with efforts, turns down $2B loan
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DETROIT — General Motors Corp. says its restructuring plan is starting to take hold, improving the automaker's fortunes at least to the point that it won't need a $2 billion government loan installment that it had requested for March.
Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said yesterday that GM formally told the Obama administration's autos task force on Wednesday that it wouldn't need the money this month. But in an interview with The Associated Press, Young would not say when the struggling automaker would need more government money or whether it will reduce the size of its loan request.
"It seems like our companywide cost reduction efforts are moving well, as well as we've been able to defer spending that we previously anticipated in January and February," Young said.
U.S. HOUSEHOLDS' NET WORTH DIVES
WASHINGTON — The net worth of American households fell by the largest amount in more than a half-century of record keeping during the fourth quarter of last year.The Federal Reserve said yesterday that household net worth dropped by a record 9 percent from the level in the third quarter.
The decline was the sixth straight quarterly drop in net worth and underscored the battering that U.S. families are undergoing amid a steep recession with unemployment surging and the value of their homes and investments plunging.
INITIAL CLAIMS FOR JOBLESS BENEFITS UP
WASHINGTON — With layoffs spreading, the number of initial claims for jobless benefits rose last week, while the total number of people continuing to receive benefits set a record high, the government said yesterday.The Labor Department reported that first-time requests for unemployment insurance rose to 654,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 645,000, above analysts' expectations.
The number of people receiving benefits for more than a week increased by 193,000 to 5.3 million, the most on records dating back to 1967.
GE LOSES ITS TOP S&P CREDIT RATING
WASHINGTON — General Electric Co. lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor's yesterday over concerns of rising loan losses and lower earnings at its lending arm, GE Capital.The ratings cut offered further proof that the financial crisis has shaken the foundation of one of the nation's biggest and traditionally most stable companies.
In the past year, GE has posted disappointing earnings, seen loan losses grow, and cut its dividend for the first time since the Great Depression.
The loss of its high credit rating means the company, which makes loans, light bulbs, and runs NBC, will likely pay more to borrow money.
SEARS TOWER GETTING NEW NAME
CHICAGO — For Chicagoans, it may be the architectural equivalent of having to watch Michael Jordan finish his career as a Washington Wizard: The Sears Tower is turning into something called the Willis Tower.That's right, the tallest building in the United States is getting a new name later this year, building management said yesterday.
It's all part of a deal with the London-based Willis Group Holdings. Along with moving 500 employees into 140,000 square feet on multiple floors of the 110-story building this summer, the Willis Group gets the naming rights as part of its lease agreement with the real estate investment group that owns Sears Tower.
