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Federated, Kmart begin discount blitz
CINCINNATI >> Federated Department Stores Inc., Kmart Corp. and other U.S. retailers have begun a final holiday promotional blitz, hoping last-minute shoppers will brighten what has been a lackluster holiday season.Macy's, a unit of Federated, is cutting prices on sweaters, men's suits and cultured-pearl strands this weekend by 50 percent, as well as giving an additional 20 percent off today. Kmart will stay open from 6 a.m. today until 8 p.m. Christmas Eve, and is offering $25 off purchases of $200 or more in addition to as much as 70 percent off some jewelry.
Merchants need strong sales this week to at least achieve their December forecasts, analysts have said. Federated and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have said sales at stores open at least a year so far are at the low end of forecasts. Stores will have to decide whether to offer steep discounts to lure shoppers or hope procrastinators won't be picky about prices, investors said.
Christmas is Wednesday. Some analysts expect today to be the busiest holiday-shopping day so far.
Labor finds 8% drop in injuries
WASHINGTON >> The U.S. Labor Department said there were 5.2 million injuries and illnesses in the workplace in 2001, an 8 percent drop from the previous year.About half of the reported injuries and illnesses required recuperation away from work or restricted work duties, according to the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"There were 500,000 fewer job-related injuries in 2001 than the year before," said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement. "While we are encouraged by this news, much remains to be done. One injury or illness is one too many."
Workplace injuries and illnesses have declined steadily since 1992 from 8.9 injuries and illnesses per 100 workers to a rate of 5.7 cases per 100 employees in 2001.
New York misses overseas tourists
NEW YORK >> New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday said his biggest concern about the city's 8 percent unemployment rate was that overseas visitors -- who typically spend four times what a domestic traveler does --were still shying away from the Big Apple.Yet Keith Yazmir, a spokesman for New York City & Co., said big spending international travelers who have yet to get over their Sept. 11 jitters -- and whose own local economies might be weak -- would be even less likely to visit the Big Apple if the United States attacked Iraq.
Domestic and international tourists spent $17 billion in New York City in 2000, according to New York City & Co., the city's tourism marketing organization. Those dollars drive another $8 billion in spending by all the thousands of workers needed to staff hotels, restaurants, theaters, museums and other attractions.
Moody's reviews McDonald's debt
OAK BROOK, ILL. >> McDonald's Corp.'s credit ratings on about $9 billion in debt may be lowered by Moody's Investors Service because of a failed price-war with rival hamburger chains and slowing U.S. and European sales.The largest restaurant chain's Aa3 senior long-term and A1 subordinated debt ratings may be cut, Moody's said in a statement yesterday. McDonald's long-term debt is rated three levels below the top rating of Moody's, whose last revision for the company was an update in 1994.
McDonald's, burdened by costs to shut restaurants and falling sales, said Tuesday it will have its first quarterly net loss since the chain went public in 1965. Moody's said any rating change will be "modest" because of the company's overall financial health.
Stock market blues force retirement delays
WASHINGTON >> Stock market woes have hit older Americans particularly hard, with two in three saying they have been forced to change their lifestyles and one in five postponing retirement, according to an AARP survey.More than half of respondents ages 50 to 70 said they are budgeting more carefully, a third said they are taking fewer vacations and less than a third have postponed making a major purchase.
The telephone poll of 789 people who said they lost money in stocks was conducted Nov. 15 through Dec. 5 by International Communications Research for AARP, which represents people over age 50. It has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Nearly 40 percent of people surveyed who lost money are retirees, and of those, a third said they have returned to work.
Of respondents who said they have delayed retirement, 72 percent had planned to retire before age 65, and virtually all had expected to retire before age 70. Now only 31 percent said they expect to retire before age 65, and 22 percent expect to retire after age 69.
World Bank Pledges $1.2 billion in loans
WASHINGTON >> China is set to get $1.2 billion annually from the World Bank during the next three years, about double what the country has received from the lender in each of the past two years, the bank said.The bank warned China to shore up government finances, clean up its troubled banks and curb the damage to the environment from its rapid economic growth, in a review of its largest borrower.
"More than any other country, China shows the potential benefits of (World Bank) investment lending," said the World Bank's director for China, Yukon Huang. "I don't think any other single borrower has the track record China has."in hawaii
Theme park visits drop a bit in 2002
LOS ANGELES >> North American theme park attendance barely fell in 2002 as local visitors picked up some of the slack left by slow international travel to big U.S. parks, a leading industry magazine said yesterday.Walt Disney Co.'s properties continued to lead the pack, with 96.47 million visitors worldwide, about double the 50.49 million of Six Flags Inc., Amusement Business magazine reported in its annual estimates for the sector.
Disney's venerable Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. showed a rise in attendance in 2002, bucking the trend at other major Disney parks, according the magazine, which independently compiled the forecasts.
Destination parks such as Orlando, Florida based properties owned by Disney, Universal and competitors, managed to make up partially for a drop in international visitors with more local promotions, Amusement Business parks and attractions editor Tim O'Brien said.
ASIA
WTO extends Thai export subsidy
BANGKOK >> The World Trade Organization allowed Thailand to extend a tax subsidy to exporters by three years to give them time for their industries to adjust, Deputy Prime Minister Prommin Lertsuridej said.Thailand's Board of Investment may grant until 2005 tax incentives such as waivers on import duties of machines and on corporate income to attract foreign companies' investment, Prommin told reporters.
