Business Briefly: Compensation increased for hurt workers
Published 10:57 pm Thursday, June 26, 2008
People received workers’ compensation in Washington state will get a cost-of-living hike of 5.018 percent effective July 1. The compensation for injured workers is recalculated each year to reflect changes in the state’s average wage from the previous year. Also increasing will be the amount the Department of Labor and Industries pays for a permanent partial disability. Based on the consumer price index, those awards will rise 2.88 percent on July 1.
Yahoo shuffles its executive lineup
Yahoo Inc. is setting up a new chain of command in hopes of restoring order amid the turmoil triggered by the embattled Internet pioneer’s snub of Microsoft Corp.’s $47.5 billion takeover bid. Under the new pecking order announced Thursday, Yahoo executive vice presidents Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel are being given more responsibilities over the products and sales teams.
Weyerhaeuser increases dividend
The executive committee of the board of directors of Weyerhaeuser Co. on June 25 declared a dividend of 60 cents per share on the common stock of the corporation payable Aug. 25 to shareholders of record at the close of business Aug. 1. Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900.
Boeing stock suffers new drop
Boeing stock dropped another 2 percent Thursday to below $68.21 a share after dropping nearly 7 percent Wednesday when a Goldman Sachs analysts lowered his rating to “sell.” The decline will affect some current and former Boeing workers in an incentive plan called Share Value Trust. The trust payout in 2006 averaged $5,200. This year’s payout will be determined by the share price Monday. At $70, it would average about $1,500 in Boeing stock.
Lawmakers mull 737 incentives
Some Washington lawmakers are already talking about tax breaks and other incentives to encourage Boeing to build the replacement for the 737 in the state. About a dozen lawmakers and industry officials talked about incentives at a Wednesday trade conference in Seattle. A consultant said the state will have to compete to keep the 13,000 jobs involved in the 737 production at the Renton factory. He says high wages and cost of living put Washington at a disadvantage to other places where planes can be manufactured. Incentives could include land grants and education programs.
GM shares slide to 30-year low
Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged Thursday to their lowest price in more than 30 years, as investors continued to speculate about just how bad things could get for U.S.-based automakers before they improve. In early trading, GM shares dropped $1.27, or 9.9 percent, to $11.54, after tumbling as low as $11.32 in the opening minutes of trading. The last time the Detroit-based automaker’s shares dropped below the $12 mark was on Jan. 2, 1975, when it fell to $11.68.
From Herald staff and news services
