In brief: Agency checks out Ford gas pedals

WASHINGTON – Federal safety regulators are investigating a few reports of gas pedals becoming trapped by floor mats in 2010 Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary investigation Friday after receiving three such complaints involving unsecured all-weather floor mats. There are no reports of crashes or injuries.

A Ford spokesman said the problem was due to drivers stacking all-weather mats on top of floor mats that come with the vehicle.

HP plans to lay off 9,000 employees

NEW YORK – Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest information-technology company, plans to lay off about 9,000 employees as it tries to cut costs in its back-office computing centers and deepens its use of software, rather than people, to do some of the work that those hubs require.

The changes to these data centers, which are clusters of computers that run websites and process information for HP’s corporate customers, will be made over about three years, the company said Tuesday.

Canada increases key interest rate

TORONTO – Canada on Tuesday became the first Group of Seven nation to raise interest rates since the global financial crisis, but said any further hikes would depend on global economic conditions. The Bank of Canada increased its key interest rate by a quarter point to .50 percent from a record-low rate of .25 percent.

The bank said thus far the impact of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis in Canada has largely been limited to a modest fall in commodity prices.

Briefcase

•Citigroup Inc. is closing 330 branches of its U.S. consumer finance business as part of a restructuring aimed at finding a buyer for the unit. The branch closures at CitiFinancial will result in about 500 to 600 job cuts across 48 states, the bank said. CitiFinancial will be renamed after the reorganization is complete.

• Alcoa Inc. reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with its largest union Tuesday, avoiding a possible strike that would have affected thousands of workers. Details of the four-year agreement between Alcoa and the Steelworkers Union were not immediately available. It still must be ratified by union members in 10 states over the next few weeks.

•Covidien PLC said it is buying medical device maker ev3 Inc. for $2.6 billion in cash. Covidien, which makes drugs and medical devices, will pay $22.50 for each share of ev3, a premium of nearly 19 percent over Friday’s closing price.

•Whirpool Corp. said it will close a machining plant in Benton Harbor, Mich., eliminating 216 jobs. Whirpool has roughly 67,000 employees worldwide.

•Gasoline prices dropped on Tuesday for the 26th straight day. After hitting a national average of $2.929 per gallon on May 6, retail gasoline prices have fallen 20.2 cents, or nearly 7 percent, to $2.727 per gallon on Tuesday.