Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

FedEx to bump up rates 4.9 percent

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- FedEx Corp. said it will raise average domestic package shipping rates 4.9 percent and export rates 2.9 percent on Feb. 1 as U.S. shipments slow along with the economy. The rate increase follows a holiday season in which package shipments were little changed or below the year-earlier, Bloomberg News reported. The Memphis, Tenn.-based company added 4 percent to its rates in April to cover rising fuel costs.

Internet-firm layoffs hit monthly record

NEW YORK -- Job cuts at Internet companies rose 19 percent in December to a record 10,459, according to a report released today by recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. The previous one-month high was November's 8,789 cuts.

Challenger, Gray has recorded 41,515 job cuts at 496 companies since December 1999, when it began tracking layoffs in the dot-com world.