News Briefs - Feb. 27
The Latest Headlines:
- UPS' Eskew Named to Export Council
- Hoffa Angered by Secretary Chao’s Remarks, Paper Reports
- Crude Oil Prices Surge to 12-Year High
- Commercial Vehicle Sales Decline in Western Europe
- Economic Adviser Hubbard Resigns, White House Says
- U.S. Home Sales Plummet 15.1% in January
- Hoffa Angered by Secretary Chao’s Remarks, Paper Reports
UPS' Eskew Named to Export Council
Mike Eskew, chairman and chief executive officer of United Parcel Service Inc., was sworn in Wednesday by President Bush to the President’s Export Council, the company said in a statement.The council “advises the president on government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance while providing a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial, agricultural, labor and government sectors,” the release said.
Based in Atlanta, UPS is ranked No. 1 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
Hoffa Angered by Secretary Chao’s Remarks, Paper Reports
Teamsters union President James Hoffa criticized comments made by U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao at the AFL-CIO’s winter meeting Wednesday, the New York Times reported.Hoffa, who has been a supported of President Bush, said that the administration is veering farther to the right with proposals to open U.S. highways to Mexican trucks and a tax cut package that favors the wealthy, the Times said.
The labor leader was set off by Chao’s comments on corruption in unions and a call for greater financial disclosure by labor groups, the Times reported.
Hoffa said that unions need a presidential candidate who understands working people, the Times reported. A spokesman told the paper that Hoffa hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the Teamsters backing Bush in the 2004 presidential election if he were to back more pro-labor policies. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Prices Surge to 12-Year High
The price of crude oil rose to its highest level since the military build up during Operation Desert Shield in 1990 after reports showed historic lows in U.S. inventories, Bloomberg said.A report by the Department of Energy that said crude oil inventories fell to near a 28-year low pushed oil prices to their highest point since October 1990.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil prices rose as much as 96 cents, or 2.6%, to $38.66 in electronic trading Thursday morning. In October 1990, the price rose as high as $41.15.
Analysts said that the unusually cold winter in the United States along with the threat of an attack on Iraq, the Middle East’s No. 3 oil producer have pushed oil prices to their current levels. Transport Topics
Commercial Vehicle Sales Decline in Western Europe
Sales of commercial vehicles in Western Europe, fell 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Bloomberg said citing an industry report.The decline was the seventh consecutive drop in sales as slowing economies in Europe depressed demand for transportation, analysts told Bloomberg.
Sales of trucks heavier than 16 tons rose by 5.4% in the quarter, a report by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Light truck sales fell 1.9%, the report showed.
Overall commercial vehicle sales fell to 548,064 in the fourth quarter. For all of 2002, commercial vehicle sales fell 4.4% to 2.14 million units, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Economic Adviser Hubbard Resigns, White House Says
Glenn Hubbard, the head of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, resigned Wednesday the White House said. Bush quickly appointed Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw as a replacement.Hubbard said in a letter released Wednesday by the White House that Friday would be his last day as the chairman of the three-person council, the Associated Press reported.
Hubbard had been a major architect of President Bush’s $674 billion economic stimulus plan, AP said. Democrats have blasted the plan as providing little immediate help for the economy.
Mankiw is widely considered to be an expert on monetary and fiscal policy, AP said. Hubbard had been seen as an expert on the economic effect of taxes. Mankiw, the author of two college textbooks had interviewed for the position in January, AP reported. Transport Topics
U.S. Home Sales Plummet 15.1% in January
The number of single-family home sales fell 15.1% to a 914,000-unit annual rate in January, the Commerce Department said Thursday.The decline from December’s revised 1.077 million-unit annual rate pushed new home sales to their lowest point in a year. New home sales account for 15% of all homes sold in the United States, Bloomberg said.
Construction companies and trucking firms can see their businesses swell when the housing market is strong.
The National Association of Home Builders is projecting home sales of 942,000 in 2003, Bloomberg said. That total would be the second-best year on record after last year’s record of 976,000. Transport Topics
