In brief: Walgreen, CVS settle

NEW YORK – CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co. have settled a dispute that threatened to change where millions of Americans fill prescriptions.

The companies, which said Friday they have agreed on a multiyear deal but did not disclose its terms, were battling over the amounts Caremark reimburses Walgreen for filling prescriptions for Caremark patients.

Walgreen and CVS do billions of dollars in business together every year, as Walgreen is the largest U.S. drugstore operator and CVS’ Caremark is the third largest prescription benefits manager. It handled drug benefits for about 53 million people last year. At the same time, the CVS drugstore chain is Walgreen’s top competitor.

Last week, the companies said they would end their relationship and Walgreen would stop accepting Caremark insurance.

Associated Press

Banner plans stock offering

Banner Corp., the Walla Walla-based parent company of Banner Bank and Islanders Bank, said Thursday it was seeking to raise $150 million in a new issue of common stock.

Much of the offering’s proceeds would go to Banner Bank, which under a March agreement with state and federal regulators is required to strengthen its capital position.

The company could sell an additional $22.5 million in stock if demand is sufficient.

Banner Bank is the third-largest state-based bank, with $4.4 billion in assets and 85 offices in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Islanders Bank, headquartered in Friday Harbor, has $219.8 million in assets and three offices in the San Juan Islands.

D.A. Davidson will manage Banner’s offering, with McAdams Wright Ragen and Sandler O’Neill & Partners acting as co-managers.

Seattle Times

Jobless rate drops in 37 states

WASHINGTON – A majority of states – Washington and Idaho included – saw their unemployment rates drop in May. But the widespread declines were mainly because people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted.

The unemployment rate fell in 37 states and the District of Columbia, the Labor Department said Friday. Six states had increases and seven experienced no change.

Forty-one states and the District of Columbia saw a net increase in jobs. But that reflected national data showing a huge gain because of government hiring of temporary census workers.

Nationally, the unemployment rate dipped to 9.7 percent in May from 9.9 percent in April.

Associated Press

Briefcase

•After a week of partisan wrangling, the Senate on Friday passed legislation to spare doctors a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments looming for months. But the last-ditch effort came late. Moments after the Senate acted, Medicare announced it would begin processing claims it has already received for June at the lower rate. The reason: The House cannot act on the fix until next week.

•Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of BP PLC on Friday, the latest in a string of hits to the beleaguered oil company. The downgrade comes three days after scientists gave a new estimate of 2.52 million gallons spilling daily into the Gulf of Mexico from a well that BP was drilling.

• Caterpillar Inc. said Friday its machine sales worldwide jumped 11 percent in May compared with a year ago as a rebound in North American and Asian business markets helped offset declines in European sales. It was the first time since August 2006 the company has reported year-over-year growth in North America machine sales.