Union membership dropped to 12 percent of U.S. workers last year, extending a steady decline from the 1950s, when more than a third belonged to unions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. Membership had been 20.1 percent in 1983, when the bureau first provided comparable numbers.
Alaska and Horizon miss expectations
Alaska Air Group Inc. on Thursday said its loss narrowed in the fourth quarter as revenue grew. The results missed Wall Street expectations, sending shares down. For the three months ended Dec. 31, the Seattle-based parent company of Alaska Air and Horizon Air lost $11.6 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with a loss of $33 million, or $1.15 per share, during the prior-year quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected flat earnings.
Congress scolds credit executives
Democratic lawmakers challenged credit card executives Thursday over rising late fees and other penalties and marketing practices they portrayed as predatory. The credit card industry and its practices came under scrutiny at a session of the Senate Banking Committee. Several Democratic members of the panel are proposing legislation to require companies to provide more details to consumers on paying off their debts and to rein in solicitations of college students.
Ford loss reaches $1,925 per sale
Ford Motor Co. lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006 – an average of $1,925 for every car and truck it sold. The company that invented the assembly line and whose name was a byword for the auto industry warned it will bleed cash for two more years before it has a shot at making money. Ford’s loss, reported Thursday, was the worst in the company’s 103-year history.
China’s economy nears Germany’s
China’s economy surged in 2006, moving it closer to overtaking Germany as the world’s third largest economy. Now it may have No. 2 Japan and No. 1 U.S. in its sights, if it doesn’t succumb to the pitfalls of an overheated economy. China reported Thursday that its economy grew by 10.7 percent last year.
Wal-Mart back wages total $33M
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay more than $33 million in back wages to thousands of employees after turning itself in to the Labor Department for paying too little in overtime, according to an agreement announced Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department. Wal-Mart said the department’s review of its overtime calculations also found it had overpaid about 215,000 hourly workers during the last five years. The company said it will not seek to recover any overpayments.
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