Business in brief: Toyota closing California plant

Tokyo – Toyota is pulling out of a California factory joint venture it had previously run with General Motors – the first time the Japanese automaker is closing a major auto assembly plant.

Toyota Motor Corp. said today it will stop production at its Fremont, Calif.-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, in March 2010, and will move production to its other plants in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Production of the Corolla subcompact will be moved to its Cambridge, Ontario, plant, as well as Japan, and Tacoma pickups will be produced at its plant in San Antonio, it said in a statement.

The decision had been widely expected after General Motors Co. said in May that it was withdrawing from the 50-50 joint venture. But hopes had been great in California that the historic joint venture launched in 1984 could stay open. The plant will be closed unless another company steps in to keep it going.

Mortgage rates rise, but are still very low

Washington – Rates for 30-year home loans edged up this week, but remain close to record lows reached over the spring.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.14 percent, up from 5.12 percent a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday. Rates, while above the record low of 4.78 percent hit in the spring, are still at attractive levels for people looking to buy a home or refinance.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.58 percent, from 4.56 percent last week.

Microsoft lowers price of Xbox 360

Seattle – Microsoft Corp. has cut the price of its top-end Xbox 360 gaming console by $100, matching a similar move by arch-rival Sony Corp. just last week.

In a statement Thursday, Microsoft said it has reduced the price of its Xbox 360 Elite to $299. The move brings the console in line with the comparable PlayStation 3, on which Sony cut its price by $100 at an industry conference in Germany last week.

Unemployment claims drop slowly

Washington – First-time filings for state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 570,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Although claims have fallen below the 600,000 level that prevailed earlier this year, economists are disappointed with the pace of improvement in the data.

Many analysts are worried the recovery will be “jobless” as businesses hold off hiring until the economic expansion is assured.