About 400 laid-off Boeing engineers and technicians will receive checks for about $200 from their union in lieu of holiday pay. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace raised slightly more than $82,000 in its “SPEEA Cares” campaign, which was intended to help union workers laid off Friday get through the holidays with a little extra cash. Because of the timing of the layoffs, the workers missed the annual “Christmas bonus” – seven days of paid leave around the holidays. The union had hoped to raise $2 million, which would have been enough to fully offset the lost holiday pay. The effort fell far short, union spokesman Bill Dugovich said, “but every little bit helps.” The union had hoped that Boeing Co. executives would donate to the fund, and that the company would match the total donated by SPEEA members, Dugovich said. Neither happened.
Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday’s auction. The Treasury Department sold three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.73 percent, up from 1.675 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 1.84 percent, up from 1.765 percent. The three-month rate was the highest since Dec. 3 when the bills sold for 1.735 percent. The six-month rate was the highest since Nov. 26, when the rate was 1.99 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors – 1.76 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,956.30 and 1.883 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,907. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 2.17 percent last week from 2.21 percent the previous week.
“Getting Your Dough To Rise,” the monthly personal finance show on Snohomish County public radio, KSER 90.7 FM, will air today from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., a week earlier than usual. The show will feature economic forecasts from Herald columnist Jim McCusker, futurist and consultant Terry Van Der Werff and hedge fund manager Dave Simpson. Host Chuck Noel said he brought the trio back for a third year because their predictions in previous years have been very accurate.
Southwest Airlines said Monday it would add a few flights and take delivery of two Boeing 737s in February, the first additions to its fleet since the attacks of Sept. 11 caused air travel to plunge. Chief executive James Parker said Southwest jets are still less full than they were a year ago but that a pickup in travel since September prompted the airline to “cautiously resume our growth with these new aircraft.” The airline has 355 jets, all Boeing 737s.
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