News Briefs - March 27
The Latest Headlines:
- UPS Asks Government to Review DHL-Airborne Deal
- Crude Oil Rises on Speculation of Supply Shortage
- Senate Passes $2.2 Trillion Budget
- Initial Jobless Claims Decline 25,000
- VW Says Demand Down on War Fears
- Crude Oil Rises on Speculation of Supply Shortage
UPS Asks Government to Review DHL-Airborne Deal
United Parcel Service Inc. said it has submitted a filing to the Department of Transportation, asking the agency to examine the proposed purchase of Airborne Inc.’s trucking unit, Bloomberg reported Thursday.The Atlanta-based carrier said it asked DOT to “investigate the foreign control aspects” of Deutsche Post AG’s proposed $1.05 billion purchase the U.S.-based delivery company’s trucking company (Click here for related coverage.).
Deutsche Post owns DHL Worldwide Express, and a share of DHL Airways, a U.S. package deliver firm. The purchase is meant to expand DHL’s presence in the United States, Deutsche Post said.
Crude Oil Rises on Speculation of Supply Shortage
The price of crude oil rose Thursday on speculation that the world’s largest oil producers might not be able to make up for the shortfall from production outages in Iraq and Nigeria, Bloomberg reported Thursday.In early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil prices rose 94 cents a barrel to $29.57, Bloomberg reported.
The war in Iraq is expected to delay oil exports from that oil-rich country and a strike in Nigeria has all but cut off oil shipments from that nation. Oil analysts told Bloomberg that they doubt that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can make up for the loss of those two countries’ production.
Together Nigeria and Iraq produced 6% of the world’s oil last year, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Senate Passes $2.2 Trillion Budget
The Senate approved a budget bill Wednesday that would provide $2.2 trillion in funding for government programs, but that included less than half of the tax cuts requested by President Bush, the Associated Press reported.In a 56-44 vote, the Senate endorsed just $350 billion of Bush’s tax cuts through 2013. The vote to pass the budget came just after moderate Republican Senators crossed the aisle to join Democrats in voting down a proposal to add $67 billion back to the tax cut package. AP said.
The federal budget now goes to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences in the bill, AP said. The House passed a budget that includes all of President Bush’s proposed tax cuts earlier this month.
President Bush expressed disappointment that the Senate did not approve his full tax cut package, but Republicans hope that the bill that comes of the conference will include more tax cuts, AP said. Transport Topic
Initial Jobless Claims Decline 25,000
The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell for the second straight week by 25,000 to 402,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.Despite the decline, claims stayed above 400,000 – a barrier economists use in measuring weakness in the U.S. labor market.
The four-week moving average, a statistical device used to smooth out changes in the weekly figures, fell to 422,500 from 424,750 in the previous report, Labor said.
VW Says Demand Down on War Fears
Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, said Thursday that it will slow production at its main German factory on slow demand because of the war, Bloomberg News reported.The company said it is offering its workers at its Wolfsburg, Germany plant as much as three weeks off this spring, Bloomberg reported. The company has also asked its employees to help reduce costs by taking some energy saving measures, Bloomberg said.
A Volkswagen spokesman said that the company is “preparing for difficult times,” Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
