Pacific Office Properties rolls out new magazine

Pacific Office Properties will launch a biannual magazine, titled Pacifica, in March.

Its content is designed for the estimated 5,000 business people who spend their workdays in the company's properties.

The magazine will be distributed to more than 500 tenant companies, which also will have exclusive access to advertising within the publication. It will also be distributed via racks at each property and will appear in Hawaii Business magazine as a special supplement that will reach an additional 68,000 readers.

Jobless homeowners get tool to calculate federal benefit

Out-of-work homeowners may now have an easier time verifying income received from unemployment compensation.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the creation, with partners, of an Unemployment Benefit Estimation Tool that allows mortgage companies and housing counselors to project a homeowner's unemployment insurance income for loan modification purposes.

Mortgage professionals can access the program at http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/ ben_entitle.asp. The department's full range of employment and training initiatives is available at http://www.doleta.gov.

4G mobile service on 2 islands arrives in December

Clearwire Communications LLC and Sprint will launch 4G mobile Internet service in Honolulu and Maui beginning in December. Each company will offer 4G under its own brand. Each company also will sell a range of 4G devices, including compact USB modems, Intel-embedded WiMAX laptops and netbooks and other wireless devices.

Island Insurance among magazine's best workplaces

Island Insurance has been selected as one of the nation's Best Places to Work in Insurance by Business Insurance Magazine. It ranked second in the nation among insurers with 25 to 249 employees. In a statement, the company says it is the first and only Hawaii-based insurance company to be recognized by the publication.

Fewer Honolulu homes on sale have prices reduced

Honolulu's housing market experienced 11 percent fewer price reductions from June to October than it did during the same period last year, according to Trulia.com.

Still, 28 percent of Honolulu listings during that period experienced price reductions, and the average price reduction was 10 percent. As a result, Trulia estimates that Honolulu has lost $42.8 million to reductions.

Nationwide, Trulia estimates that 25.6 percent of homes currently on the market have experienced at least one price cut. More than one in four homes listed on Trulia have been reduced in price for the fourth straight month.

Coming Up

» Today: Corning Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. release third-quarter financial results.

» Tomorrow: Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for October.

» Wednesday: Commerce Department releases durable goods for September.

» Thursday: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.

» Friday: Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for September.