Wholesale inflation up sharply in July
Washington Inflation at the wholesale level increased by the largest amount in nine months in July, reflecting the hit consumers are taking at gas pumps.
The Labor Department reported that its Producer Price Index, which measures price pressures before they reach the consumer, jumped by 1 percent in July, the biggest advance since a 1.5 percent increase last October.
The report on wholesale prices depicted many of the same price pressures shown in the 0.5 percent increase in consumer prices reported on Tuesday. However, the wholesale report showed that the core rate of inflation, excluding energy and food, rose by a worrisome 0.4 percent in July, the biggest increase since January.
Core inflation at the retail level rose by a much more modest 0.1 percent in July. The biggest difference in the two reports was in the measurement of new car prices.
Car prices fell by 1 percent in the report on inflation at the consumer level, the biggest one-month decline in 30 years, while car prices were up 1.5 percent in the wholesale price report.
Analysts said part of the difference could be explained by the fact that the wholesale report measures inflation pressures at a different stage of the supply chain. The wholesale price report caught the introduction of attractive incentive offers in June while the consumer report did not pick up those incentives until the July report.
Pact near on import of Chinese clothing
Washington Negotiators are close to a comprehensive agreement to limit imports of Chinese clothing and textiles into the United States, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
U.S. clothing and textile manufacturers are pushing for an agreement to halt a surge in Chinese imports that began with the lifting of a system of global quotas that had been in place for three decades. U.S. producers say 19 textile plants have been forced to close and 26,000 jobs have been lost just this year.
Economists say a broad-based agreement would raise clothing bills paid by American consumers, who have been enjoying a significant drop in prices this year following the end of the global quota system. That system had restrained how much apparel and textiles China could ship to the United States.
One estimate has put the potential higher costs to American consumers at $6 billion annually, or roughly $20 for each U.S. consumer.
The Bush administration has re-imposed quotas on various categories of clothing this year, but American manufacturers would prefer an agreement covering all areas of production that have been threatened by Chinese imports.
Federal agency issues safety alert for BP
Houston The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued an urgent safety recommendation for the first time in its history Wednesday, requesting that BP PLC form an independent panel of experts to review safety at the company’s five North American refineries, including one near Bellingham.
The federal agency is investigating an explosion and fire which killed 15 workers and caused 170 injuries at the British company’s Texas City refinery in March. Since then, a number of fires and other incidents prompted the action, the board said.
BP operates refineries in Texas, California, Indiana, Ohio, and at Cherry Point near Bellingham.
Software engineer gets 15 months for theft
New York A former America Online software engineer was sentenced Wednesday to a year and three months in prison for stealing 92 million screen names and e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers who sent out up to 7 billion unsolicited e-mails.
“I know I’ve done something very wrong,” a soft-spoken and teary eyed Jason Smathers told U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
The judge credited the 25-year-old former Harpers Ferry, W.Va., resident for his contrition and efforts to help the government before he pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. A plea deal had called for a sentence of at least a year and a half in prison.
In a letter from Smathers to the court that was read partially into the record by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Siegal, Smathers tried to explain the crimes that AOL has said cost the company at least $400,000 and possibly millions of dollars.
“Cyberspace is a new and strange place,” Siegal said Smathers wrote. “I was good at navigating in that frontier and I became an outlaw.”
NHTSA to mandate stronger vehicle roofs
New York The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to issue a new standard to require automakers to make stronger roofs on vehicles, according to a newspaper report.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed industry sources, on Wednesday reported details of the proposed rule that is expected to be published this week in a regulatory effort to protect occupants in rollover crashes.
An NHTSA spokesman Wednesday declined to release details of the proposed rule. Congress last month directed the government to issue a new roof-strength rule.
The proposal, an upgrade to a long-standing federal regulation, would apply for the first time to large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks under 10,000 pounds, according to the report. The current law exempts any vehicle over 6,000 pounds.
Under the new provision, popular vehicles such as the Chevrolet Suburban, the Dodge Ram and the Ford Expedition would be included in the standard, according to the story.