Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Thursday, June 18, 1998
Pearl City dealership building new facilities
Pearl City Cutter Dodge is spending $1.5 million to build an auto dealership facility on the site of the old Pearl City Tavern.The 10,000-square-foot showroom and service facility will create 25 permanent jobs as well as about 100 construction jobs, the company said.
The first phase will be completed in about four months and a second phase will take another year. Meanwhile, the 18 workers at the existing dealership will keep it running.
The Pearl City Tavern -- with its well known "Monkey Bar", which had live monkeys in an glass enclosure behind the bar -- was closed in 1993 after a business decline and unsuccessful efforts to sell the business. The termite-infested building, which the dealership was using for storage, was razed earlier this month.
Thirty-year mortgages fall to five-month low
WASHINGTON -- The benchmark U.S. mortgage rate fell this week to its lowest level in five months, Freddie Mac reported.The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.94 percent this week from last week's 7.04 percent, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
The average rate on an adjustable mortgage was 5.68 percent, down from 5.71 percent; while 15-year mortgage rates fell to 6.62 percent, from 6.71 percent.
Asian financial crisis lifts U.S. trade deficit
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $14.5 billion in April as the Asian financial crisis battered American exporters, pushing down sales of everything from commercial aircraft to farm products.The Commerce Department reported today that the April deficit was 9.5 percent higher than the March imbalance of $13.2 billion, the previous record.
While imports declined a slight 0.9 percent in April after hitting an all-time high the month before, U.S. exports fell even more sharply, dropping 2.6 percent as the deepening recessions in many Asian markets cut into U.S. sales.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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