BUSINESS BRIEFS
Vegas casinos won less than usual in February
Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. — There was no leap in the winnings for Nevada casinos in February despite the leap year's extra day in the month and other seemingly positive factors. The clubs won $1.01 billion, down nearly 4 percent compared with the same month a year earlier.
The slump occurred despite a 29th day for the month, the reopening of a major Las Vegas resort that had been closed by a fire, and such tourist draws as Superbowl and Chinese New Year activities and a three-day Presidents Day holiday.
"We were disappointed but we can't say it was unexpected," Gaming Control Board analyst Frank Streshley said in releasing the February win report yesterday.
"It's definitely a reflection of the soft economy and people tightening up their spending habits."
The $1.01 billion was the amount left in casino coffers after gamblers wagered $13.9 billion in February — $10.8 billion in slot machine bets and the balance on table games.
YAHOO GIVES GOOGLE A TRY
SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. is surrendering some of its advertising space to Internet search leader Google Inc. in a test that appears designed to frustrate Yahoo's unsolicited suitor, Microsoft Corp.
The experiment announced yesterday will allow Google to place ads tied to about 3 percent of the queries made in the United States through Yahoo's search engine — the Internet's second-largest after Google's.
Without specifying a start date, Yahoo said the Google tests will last for up to two weeks.
BOEING AGAIN DELAYS 787 DEBUT
CHICAGO — Boeing Co. pushed back its oft-delayed 787 jetliner by another six months yesterday, postponing the jet's debut in commercial service until the third quarter of 2009.
The move further jolted the company's credibility and will likely cost it billions of dollars in additional expenses and penalties.
The latest delays — the third revision to its delivery schedule and fourth switch in the plans for its first test flight — underscore the problems Boeing is having keeping to a schedule while leaning heavily for the first time on outside contractors to do most of the manufacturing work.
The aircraft, touted as more fuel-efficient than other large jets, is now more than a year behind the original schedule.
US AIRWAYS GETS UNION AGREEMENT
TEMPE, Ariz. — US Airways said it has reached a tentative agreement with its 7,700 ramp and baggage workers.
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline said yesterday the agreement still needs to be ratified by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union. A ratification vote has not yet been scheduled.
The deal sets new wages for the workers and would become amendable at the end of 2011.
US Airways Group Inc. has been working to combine contracts for all its employees.
On Tuesday, its mechanics' union agreed to a combined contract. But the carrier still hasn't reached agreements with its pilots' or flight attendants' unions.
FINANCIAL SAVVY OF TEENS SLIPPING
WASHINGTON — Young people's financial know-how has gone from bad to worse.
High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released yesterday by the Federal Reserve.
That was even lower than the 52.4 percent in the previous survey in 2006 and the worst score out of the six surveys conducted so far.
With home foreclosures at record highs, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed in a speech that young people must sharpen their financial knowledge so they are in a better position to make sound investment decisions throughout their lives.
