News Briefs - July 8
The Latest Headlines:
- Yellow Says 2Q Earnings to Exceed Previous Guidance
- Price of Crude Oil Hits a Five-Week High in N.Y.
- Freightliner Spokesman Says Company May Add Workers
- Jobless Claims Fall to 310,000 Last Week
- Survey: Price of Crude Oil to Fall
- Pennsylvania Opens New I-81 Pullover Areas
- Price of Crude Oil Hits a Five-Week High in N.Y.
Yellow Says 2Q Earnings to Exceed Previous Guidance
Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Roadway Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter profits would exceed its previous guidance of 85 cents to 90 cents per share.On June 14, the company increased its earnings prediction to 85 cents to 90 cents from 70 cents to 75 cents. Bill Zollars, chairman and president of Yellow Roadway, said in a statement that all of the company's units had a "strong finish to the second quarter."
The company said it would report second-quarter profits on July 22. Transport Topics
Price of Crude Oil Hits a Five-Week High in N.Y.
The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.22 on Thursday to close at $40.33, a five-week high, Bloomberg reported.Prices were 33% higher than a year earlier and but still below a record $42.45 a barrel set on June 2.
Increased buying by hedge funds eclipsed reports that U.S. oil inventories grew by 100,000 barrels to 305 million in the week ended Friday, Bloomberg said. Crude supplies were expected to increase by 750,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey. Transport Topics
Freightliner Spokesman Says Company May Add Workers
Chris Brandt, a spokesman for truck maker Freightliner LLC, said the company is considering expanding its manufacturing work force and making more trucks in Portland, Ore., the Oregonian reported Thursday.Although Brandt declined to say whether increased production would mean an extra shift, Steve Hillesland, a union negotiators, said the plant's first shift was largely full and a second shift could mean an additional 400 to 500 workers.
Unions workers returned to work at the Portland plant on Wednesday after accepting new three-year labor contracts. The plant was idle during the week of June 28 for a previously scheduled summer shutdown period. Transport Topics
Jobless Claims Fall to 310,000 Last Week
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 39,000 last week to 310,000, the lowest since October 2000, the Labor Department said Thursday.Last week's decrease was the biggest since the week that ended Dec. 8, 2001. However, Labor said the numbers may be distorted because of difficulties adjusting for seasonal shutdowns at auto plants.
he four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile indicator than the weekly numbers, fell to 336,000, the lowest since the week that ended May 22.
obless-claims numbers are hard to interpret in July because automakers shut plants to retool for new models and autoworkers not eligible for vacation pay may apply for unemployment benefits, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Survey: Price of Crude Oil to Fall
Oil prices may weaken for the rest of this year and in 2005 as OPEC members increase production, a Bloomberg survey found.The median forecast was $34 a barrel for crude oil in New York during the fourth quarter and $30 next year, down from the average $36.85 so far in 2004, Bloomberg said.
Saudi Arabia led increases in oil production among the 11 OPEC members in the second quarter, causing U.S. inventories to increase in nine of the past 13 weeks.
Crude oil was trading at just above $39 per barrel on Wednesday, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Pennsylvania Opens New I-81 Pullover Areas
Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation announced the opening of 11 pullover areas on Interstate 81.The 11 sites, in the northeastern corner of the state between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, were to be used by the Pennsylvania State Police for radar observation, for truck inspections or to pull over speeders, PennDOT said in a news release.
The sites were built in cooperation with the state police and with Focus 81, a community task force that works to improve traffic safety and ease congestion at that part of the interstate, PennDOT said. The sites cost $40,000 to build.
Gene Kane, co-chairman of Focus 81, said, “From a trucking industry perspective, we are pleased and appreciative of this safety initiative. It will allow for more enforcement, slowing down speeders and improving the safety of all who travel it.” Transport Topics
