Business News

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The volume of applications for U.S. mortgages increased last week, rising by a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent, an industry group said.

DETROIT, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Parts suppliers who provide the life-blood to U.S. automakers are feeling the effects of a poor economy and slumping automobile sales, a trade group said.

OTTAWA, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Wholesale sales in Canada dipped 3.6 percent to $45.3 billion in October, led by drops in recycled metals and the auto sector, Statistics Canada reported.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Apple Inc. said chairman and chief executive officer Steve Jobs has passed the baton on giving the opening speech at the MacWorld Expo next month.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox has ordered an investigation to see why the agency missed signs of a massive fraud case.

Markets head lower Wednesday ... Hope for Homeowners program criticized ... Deflation steps in as economic factor ... Canadian auto bailout could reach $25B ... News from United Press International.

LONDON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in Britain surpassed the 1 million mark in November, the Office for National Statistics said.

OTTAWA, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Canadian trips abroad fell 3.2 percent in October to 4.2 million, although overnight travel from the United States into Canada rose, Statistics Canada reported.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A federal program designed to help 400,000 struggling U.S. homeowners has attracted only 312 applicants since October, a government agency said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A broad swath of U.S. adults in a recent poll indicated disapproval of federal efforts to address the economy, although many were hopeful that will change.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Consumer prices have fallen 3 percent in the past three months and may drop another 1 percent in 2009, economic forecasters at HIS Global Insight said.

OTTAWA, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- As Washington grapples with a bailout for automakers, Moody's Investors Service said Canada's share could soar from $3.4 billion to as much as $25 billion.

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, briefing visiting World Bank President Robert Zoellick, said the country will spur domestic demand to stimulate economic growth.

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. developer Donald Trump's elaborate plans for a golf resort in the Scottish birthplace of the game received a green light Tuesday from the government.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The former top executive of General Re Corp. was sent to prison Tuesday for scheming to manipulate AIG's financial statements, U.S. officials said.