BUSINESS BRIEFS
Housing rescue legislation passed in 272-152 vote
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Rescue legislation sailed through the House yesterday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and to prevent troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from collapsing.
The 272-152 vote reflected a congressional push to send election-year help to struggling borrowers and to reassure jittery financial markets about the health of two pillars of the mortgage market.
Hours before the vote, President Bush dropped his opposition to the measure, which is now on track to pass the Senate and become law within days.
FED: PRICES ROSE, ECONOMY SLOWED
WASHINGTON — The country slogged through slower economic growth and rising prices during the summer, packing a double whammy to people and businesses alike.
The Fed's new snapshot of business conditions, released yesterday, also underscored the challenges confronting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues as they try to get the economy back on track.
Growth and inflation barometers turned worse in the summer, according to the Fed report. Some worry that the country may be headed for a bout of stagflation, that toxic combination of stagnant growth and stubborn inflation not seen in decades. Bernanke has said, however, that he doesn't believe the economy will suffer from stagflation.
TOYOTA LEADS GM SO FAR THIS YEAR
DETROIT — General Motors Corp., pummeled by falling U.S. sales and high gas prices, lost the global sales lead to Toyota Motor Corp. in the first half of this year, but the churning market makes it difficult to predict which automaker will end the year on top.
Toyota sold 4,817,941 vehicles globally during the first six months of the year, company spokesman Hideaki Homma said yesterday, beating GM by 277,532 vehicles. Toyota said its global sales rose 2 percent from the same period the year before, while GM's sales fell 3 percent.
It's the second time Toyota has beaten GM in sales in the first half of the year. In 2007, Toyota outsold GM by about 50,000 vehicles, although GM eked out a win for the full year, retaining its 77-year position as the world's largest automaker by sales.
CHRYSLER CUTTING 1,000 SALARIED JOBS
DETROIT — Chrysler LLC said yesterday it will cut 1,000 salaried jobs worldwide by Sept. 30 as it tries to return to profitability amid a severe downturn in U.S. sales.
The automaker announced the cuts in a letter to employees. A Chrysler spokesman said the company hopes most of the cuts will be accomplished through early retirements, attrition and voluntary separation programs, but he said involuntary layoffs will be considered if the company fails to meet its targets.
Chrysler's U.S. sales fell 22 percent in the first six months of this year as customers shunned its trucks and SUVs in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. Industrywide, U.S. sales were down 10 percent, but the decline hit Chrysler harder because trucks and SUVs make up 72 percent of its U.S. sales.
CHINA CUTS BACK ON BUSINESS VISAS
BEIJING — China has further clamped down on issuing business visas, government officials said today, in the latest expansion of already-tight entry restrictions for next month's Olympic Games.
Beijing has stopped issuing invitation letters needed for visas for businesspeople until late September, unless the visa involves employment or business contracts, an official with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce said.
China has tightened its visa rules to keep out foreign activists and foreigners not properly employed in Beijing, but businessmen also have been caught in the net.
