The biggest jump in gasoline prices in six months helped push inflation at the wholesale level higher in May, although inflation outside energy remained well-behaved. Wholesale prices rose by 0.9 percent last month, worse than the 0.6 percent advance analysts expected, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The price surge was led by a 10.2 percent jump in gasoline prices, the biggest one-month increase since last November. However, food prices declined for the first time in seven months and, outside the volatile food and energy sectors, core inflation posted a moderate 0.2 percent increase.
Adobe Systems’ profit up 24 percent
Adobe Systems Inc. reported a 24 percent surge in second-quarter profit Thursday, setting a record in revenue and exceeding Wall Street expectations as the software company embarked on its biggest-ever product launch. Net income for the three months ending June 1 was $152.5 million, or 25 cents a share, up from $123.1 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same quarter of last year. Second-quarter sales were a record $745.6 million, up 17 percent from $635.5 million in the second quarter of 2006, the previous overall record.
Recall on toothpaste with Colgate label
The Colgate-Palmolive Co. said Thursday that 5-ounce tubes of counterfeit toothpaste sold in discount stores in four states under a Colgate label are being recalled because they may contain a poisonous chemical. A Food and Drug Administration official, Doug Arbesfeld, said Wednesday that testing had found the chemical in a product with the Colgate label, but said in the initial announcement that the FDA was unsure whether it really was Colgate or a counterfeit. MS USA Trading Inc. of North Bergen, N.J., the importer involved in the initial recall announcement, said the toothpaste may contain diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze.
Jobless numbers remain unchanged
Applications for unemployment benefits totaled 311,000 last week, unchanged from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The fact that claims remained at the same level was better than the small increase analysts had been expecting and supported their view that the job market has held up remarkably well in the face of a yearlong economic slowdown. Claims have fallen in six of the past nine weeks. Those declines followed a period of rising claims, which had raised fears that the slowing economy was starting to trigger higher layoffs.
Ford buyout stands at 27,000 workers
About 27,000 U.S. hourly workers have left Ford Motor Co. under buyout or early retirement offers, the automaker said Thursday. Ford offered the packages last year to reduce its work force to match lower demand for its cars and trucks. Initially about 37,000 workers signed up for the offers, but not all have left the company, it said. Ford has until September to phase in the departures as it closes plants under a restructuring plan, and some of the workers could change their minds and stay with the company.
From Herald news services
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