UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets gain some ground

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets rose Wednesday after Automatic Data Processing Inc. said 91,000 jobs were added to the economy in September.

The figure was higher than the 75,000 economists predicted, but not high enough to move the 9.1 unemployment rate lower.

By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 131.24 points, 1.21 percent, to 10,939.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 20.09 points, 1.79 percent, to 1,144.04. The Nasdaq composite index added 55.69 points, 2.32 percent, to 2,460.51.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,231 stocks advanced and 815 declined on a volume of 5 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 18/32 to yield 1.884 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3344 from Tuesday's $1.3352. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 76.78 yen from Tuesday's 76.81 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 0.86 percent, 73.14, to 8,382.98.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 3.19 percent, 157.73, to 5,102.17.

GM, regulators, settle gas gauge glitch

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. automobile industry regulators said they have reached a settlement with General Motors Co. concerning faulty fuel gauges in 867,337 SUVs.

GM has agreed to pay half the cost of repairing the fuel gauges in cars with less than 120,000 miles on the odometer, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Consumers would pay the other half of the repair cost, the News said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has agreed, in turn, to end an investigation that began in April.

The issue concerned vehicles that would run out of gas prematurely. The vehicles with the questionable fuel gauges include the GM Chevrolet Trailblazer, the GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier and Saab 9-7 SUV.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said vehicle owners could expect to pay $200 for their share of the repair.

"This is the best we could do for customers," Adler said.

"It's a wear-out issue. This is something that occurs for the most part well outside the warranty period," he said.

Friendly's Ice Cream files for protection

WILBRAHAM, Mass., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- New England ice cream emporium and family restaurant chain Friendly's said it has filed for bankruptcy protection and would close 63 stores.

With nearly 500 restaurants on its roster, Friendly's Ice Cream Corp., based in Wilbraham, Mass., said it would lay off 1,200 workers, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

"It's a tough day, but a very positive day for the future of the company," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Harsha Agadi.

The company said, "424 Friendly's restaurants will be open for business as usual during the company's financial restructuring and there is expected to be no impact to manufacturing and distribution operations."

The company has made it, so far, from the Great Depression to the Great Recession. It was started in 1935 by brothers Prestley and Curtis Blake, who took it from one store in Springfield, Mass., to hundreds of stores by the time it was sold to Hershey in 1979.

One industry analyst said the time for the Friendly's style had come and gone.

"Restaurants have a life cycle, and Friendly's has hit it," said Ron Paul, president of Technomic Inc. in Chicago.

"I don't think there is any marketing fix when you are a model of a restaurant that went out of style," he said.

September shows surge in layoffs

CHICAGO, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. companies announced 115,730 layoffs in September, the highest total since April 2009, a private consulting firm said Wednesday.

Consistent with year-to-date figures, job cuts in September came predominantly from banks and the military, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said.

In September, the government announced 54,182 layoffs, bringing the year-to-date total to 159,588, almost three times the second on the list, which is financial firms with 31,167 layoffs in the month and 54,013 for the year so far.

The third industry on the list, education, has announced 8,724 layoffs this year, 6,462 of them in September.

The firm said job cuts surged 126 percent from the 51,114 layoffs announced in August. Layoffs were 212 percent higher than September 2010, when announced layoffs came to 37,151.

While the layoff picture looks grim, "It is important to keep in mind that 80,000 cuts or nearly 70 percent of last month's total, came from just two organizations: Bank of America and the U.S. Army," said Chief Executive Officer John Challenger.