UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets slip on oil Monday

NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- Bellwether commodity oil's jump in price put a shadow of inflation worries over U.S. markets Monday.

Oil prices topped $120 per barrel Monday, jumping more then $3 per barrel during the day, causing concerns production of goods would rise in cost and consumer spending would decline.

By early Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 88.66 points to 12,969.54, off 0.68 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index fell 6.41 points to 1,407.49, off 0.45 percent. The Nasdaq composite fell 12.87 points to 2,464.12, off 0.52 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,331 stocks advanced and 1,777 declined on a volume of 1.106 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 2/32 to yield 3.86 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5492 from Friday's $1.5413 and the dollar traded at 104.87 yen from Friday's 105.40 yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 57.07 points to 26,183.95, off 0.22 percent. In Japan, the stock market was closed Monday.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 128.20 points to 6,215.50, up 2.11 percent.



Poverty formula needs review, group says

NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- The formula for calculating the U.S. poverty level needs updating, the leader of a national children's advocacy group said Monday.

Nancy Cauthen, deputy director of Columbia University's National Center for Children in Poverty, said a family of four requires twice the federal poverty level of $21,200 to meet basic needs, The Biloxi, Miss., Sun Herald reported.

The formula, devised in the 1960s, is based on a family spending one-third of its income on food.

The 1968 poverty level for a family of four was $3,553, based on what the family would require for food costs multiplied by three, the report said.

Increased costs of childcare, healthcare and transportation have changed the ratio in the past 40 years with food now representing one-seventh of an average family's expenses, the report said.



GM workers in Kansas begin strike

KANSAS CITY, Kan., May 5 (UPI) -- United Auto Workers began a strike Monday at a General Motors Corp. plant in Kansas City, Kan., over job selection and seniority issues, union officials said.

Workers from UAW Local 31 walked away from the assembly line that produces the Chevrolet Malibu, one of the company's best selling models, The Detroit News reported.

The plant also produces the Saturn Aura, the Detroit Free Press reported.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said the company was "disappointed" the union decided to strike.

The local's Web site says disputes continue over "management placement without regard to seniority, inter-department transfers, job selection" and other issues.

"General Motors left us with NO alternative after ALL weekend meetings and NO progress to speak of," a statement on the Web site says.

GM is also trying to settle a strike at a Lansing, Mich., Delta Township plant, which makes the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook.

The Lansing strike began April 17.

Three other GM plants have also threatened the company with strikes.

Union workers in Warren, Mich.; Wyoming, Mich.; and Mansfield, Ohio, have threatened strikes, if contract disputes cannot be settled quickly, the Free Press reported.



Canada's last fruit cannery closing

WINDSOR, Ontario, May 5 (UPI) -- The last fruit cannery in Canada is closing in June, and some farmers have begun tearing up and burning peach and pear trees.

Management of the CanGro Foods plant in a rural part of Ontario's Niagara Peninsula was unable to find a buyer by the end of March, and announced it would close in June, the Windsor Star reported.

Losing their main market, numerous farmers told the Star they were literally pulling up stakes.

"I ripped out four acres of 1-year-old trees," farmer Peter Scherer said. "Canadians should really think about it -- you want your kids to eat stuff from China?"

Adrian Huisman, general manager of the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers, told the newspaper it's expected about 900 acres of peach trees and 800 acres of pear trees will be uprooted because of the CanGro closure, with a $30 million impact on the food industry.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International