Executive Business Briefing 15:35:58 EST
UPI
Executive Business Briefing
Here's a look at the hour's top business stories:
-0-
The employment report for March suggests a slowing U.S. economy. The
Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 4.7
percent, as non-farm payrolls cut 36,000 jobs. Most economists had
predicted no change in the jobless rate and a rise of 250,000 in non-
farm jobs. The Labor Department notes unseasonable weather created an
unusual hiring pattern this winter.
The decline in non-farm jobs came mostly in the construction sector,
which lost 88,000 jobs. But the Labor Department notes construction
employment actually rose in March before seasonal adjustments.
-0-
Financially ailing Zenith Electronics is laying off 409 workers at
its color picture tube plant in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park,
Illinois. The layoffs affect about 4 percent of the company's workforce.
On Wednesday, Zenith reported 1997 losses of nearly $300 million.
-0-
Astoria Financial Corporation and Long Island Bancorp have agreed to
merge in a $1.8 billion stock swap. Astoria Financial is the holding
company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association, the nation's
10th-largest thrift institution. Long Island Bancorp is the parent of
the Long Island Savings Bank. The merger will form the nation's sixth-
largest publicly-traded thrift.
-0-
General Motors reports a 3.8 percent rise in its March U.S. sales
compared with March of 1997, led by an 11.2 percent jump in truck sales.
GM says it sold 451,321 vehicles. Truck sales totaled 211,715 - the best
truck month in GM history. It was the fifth straight monthly increase in
truck sales. Car sales were down 1.9 percent, while showing growth in
the mid-size segment.
-0-
Ford reports its U.S. sales fell 3 percent in March compared with
March of 1997. Passenger car sales fell 5.9 percent to 135,391 vehicles.
Truck sales were also lower, falling 1.4 percent to 202,950. But Ford
notes the F-Series pickup hnad one of its biggest sales months in two
decades and Lincoln sales, including the Navigator sport utility
vehicle, soared 18.6 percent.
-0-
Shares of Sunbeam are sharply lower, after the company warned its
first-quarter results could fall below analysts' estimates. Sunbeam
blamed lower-than-expected sales and significant one-time charges and
costs tied to its acquisitions of the Coleman Company, Signature Brnads
and First Alert. At 3:25 p.m. Eastern time, Sunbeam was down 11 3/4 at
33 7/8.
-0-
Market Statistics at 3:25 p.m. Eastern time:
DJIA 9000.10 up 13.46
NYSE Composite Index 583.70 up 1.66
S&P 500 Index 1123.95 up 3.94
AMEX Composite Index 747.64 up 0.61
NMS Composite Index 843.00 up 1.66
NASDAQ Composite Index 1856.47 up 3.51
-0-
By Ed Silk (UPI)
Financial-Update
--------
This article remains the property of United Press International and is not
to be modified or redistributed in any way. It is provided as information
through license arrangement between UPI and Pathlink Technology Corporation.