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Government regulators said Tuesday they have demanded documents from Toyota to determine if the automaker conducted its recent recalls in a timely manner.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has ordered Toyota to provide documents showing when and how it learned of the defects affecting approximately 6 million vehicles in the United States.

Federal regulations require all automakers to notify NHTSA within five days of determining that a safety defect exists and promptly conduct a recall, the agency said.

"Safety recalls are very serious matters and automakers are required to quickly report defects," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The move comes amid a spike in customer complaints lodged against Toyota in the NHTSA database, including some that allege fatal crashes were caused by sudden acceleration in Toyota cars since Jan. 27.

The probe will examine how Toyota learned of the defects. For example, regulators want to know if Toyota discovered the problems through consumer complaints or factory testing.

The investigation will also focus on whether the company found the problems before the vehicles in question were produced or after they had already been built.

In addition, regulators will check whether Toyota has covered all affected models in its recent recalls to make sure the automaker didn’t miss any problems.

NHTSA said it has demanded documents from Toyota on customer complaints, production data, dates of meetings and other pertinent details.

Toyota will have 30 days to provide the documents pertaining to the timeliness of the recalls and 60 days to submit information related to the adequacy of its ongoing recall efforts, according to a Department of Transportation official.

Cindy Knight, a Toyota spokeswoman, said the company is reviewing NHTSA’s request and will provide all the information they have requested.

"Toyota takes its responsibility to advance vehicle safety seriously and to alert government officials of any safety issue in a timely manner," she said.

Toyota has recalled more than 8.1 million vehicles worldwide for problems related to sudden acceleration and unresponsive brake pedals, among other things. The company has apologized for the safety lapses and pledged to repair the recalled vehicles quickly.

The recalls under investigation include two related to the entrapment of gas pedals by floor mats. Those recalls were announced last fall and expanded early this year. The third, announced in January, involved sticking gas pedals.

If the investigation determines that Toyota violated its statutory obligations, NHTSA said the manufacturer could be liable for a fine of up to $16.4 million.

That’s the maximum penalty under a 2000 law that established stiffer civil, and even criminal, penalties for automakers that fail to promptly report safety defects to federal regulators in a timely way.

The Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, or TRED, was passed in response to dozens of deadly Ford Explorer rollover crashes caused by faulty Firestone tires. No fines were ever levied in that case.

The biggest fine that’s ever been levied was just $1 million taken from General Motors in 2004 for failing to deal promptly with a windshield wiper issue, an amount that was negotiated down from the $3 million NHTSA originally asked for. 

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No faxing fast cash advance gets you cash fast and easily.

A federal judge has appointed a receiver, Atec Inc., to run the Golf Discount store chain, Mid-Rivers Golf Links and other properties associated with entrepreneur and former golf pro Ned Story.

Centrue Bank claims the companies defaulted on $20 million in loans, which came due early this month.

In asking for a receiver, the bank said the borrowers lack the money to keep the business operating until golfing picks up with warmer weather. The bank said it is "legitimately fearful that its collateral has been, is and will continue to be consumed, used or dissipated," according to documents filed with the U.S. district court in St. Louis. Judge Terry Adelman is hearing the case.

In court papers, the bank said it would fund the receiver, which should allow the businesses to continue operating. Golf Discount stores were open for business this week.

The default is another blow to Centrue. The bank lost $22 million in the first nine months of this year and 8 percent of its loans were behind in payments as of September, more than twice the level at similar banks.

The Federal Reserve last month banned the bank from paying dividends to shareholders and told it to clean up bad loans and improve its lending practices cash advance. The bank has $1.3 billion in assets.

Golf Discount, based in St. Peters, has 18 stores in seven states, including stores in Mehlville, Chesterfield, Ballwin and St. Peters. The bank said its loans are also secured by property at Old Hickory Golf Club and Mid-Rivers Golf Links, both in St. Peters, and golf properties near Kansas City and in Kansas, Arizona and Tennessee.

Story and officials of the golfing companies did not return phone calls.

It’s been a rough go for golf clubs in general, says Scott Hovis, executive director of the Missouri Golf Association. An association survey showed that golf club memberships fell 10 to 15 percent in 2008 in the state. Figures for last year are not yet available, but Hovis feels the business has "flattened," with little growth or shrinkage.

"Golf courses throughout America are struggling," he said, as the economy forces customers to cut back on luxuries. Still, club failures in Missouri have been few, said Hovis.

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The Cleveland Indians’ annual press tour will take the team to Columbus this month for an event set to benefit the cancer research fund started by the late Stefanie Spielman.

The Indians’ tour runs from Jan. 26-28 and consists of three buses visiting sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania with players, Manager Manny Acta, coaching staff and broadcasters.

The team’s Lou Doby bus is arriving at the Gameworks at Easton Town Center Jan. 26 for a press conference at 4:30 p.m. with the main event set for 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 and available only at the door, the team said. For details on scheduled appearances along with other stops and dates, click here http://cleveland small personal loans.indians.mlb.com/cle/fan_forum/presstour.jsp.

The charity set to benefit from proceeds is the Stefanie Spielman Fund at the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Spielman, wife of former National Football League and Ohio State University star Chris Spielman, died in November at the age of 42 following a years-long battle with breast cancer.

The regular season for the Indians, the parent club of the AAA Columbus Clippers, begins April 5 against the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field.

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Home remodelers are getting less bang for their bucks. For the fourth straight year, renovation jobs have added less to resale values relative to their costs, according to an annual Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report released this week by the National Association of Realtors.

The average remodeling job cost $50,908 in 2009 and added $32,497 to the value of the home, a ratio of 63.8%. That was down from a cost-to-value ratio of 67.3% in 2008, when the average was $49,866 and the added value was $33,568.

One common renovation, a mid-priced bath remodel, for example, runs an average of $16,142 and adds only $11,454 to the resale value of a house — recouping just 71% of its cost. In 2008, the same job cost less — $15,899 — and typically added $11,857 to the home’s value, recouping 74.6%.

The most financially successful jobs are smaller-scale, lower-cost renovations that improve the exterior appearance of homes. In this down real estate market, curb appeal is king.

"Once again, this year’s report highlights the importance of a home’s first impression," said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz.

Ron Phipps, a real estate broker in Rhode Island, said how the house looks from the outside is more important than ever.

"If you’re driving down the street and the house doesn’t have great appeal, it doesn’t matter how nice it is inside," he said.

But here’s the kicker: Clients are savvier than ever in their shopping. Even though the costs of home improvements are less likely to be returned on resale than they have been in prior years, sellers may still have to bite the bullet and do the remodeling if they want their house to sell at all, he said.

"It’s kind of intriguing," said Phipps. "Buyers are using the unimproved houses to negotiate lower prices, but they wind up buying the remodeled homes."

So, if there are two similar houses in the area, buyers will use the listing price of the one that has not gone through a metamorphosis to get the seller of the renovated house to slash their price. Buyers want to pay for the caterpillar but get the butterfly.

Seller must play along if they want to make deals. "You get to sell the house more quickly if you do the renovations," Phipps said.

Biggest pay-offs

The major job that returns most in resale value is an upscale replacement of siding using fiber-cement. The job costs an average of $13,287 but increases home value by $11,112, or 83.6%. A vinyl siding replacement returns 79.9% of costs.

Adding a basement bedroom is also fairly cost effective, averaging $49,346 but adding $40,992 in value, an 83.1% return.

"Increasing livable square footage with a new deck or an attic bedroom is usually more valuable than just remodeling existing space," Phipps said.

The return on investment for some jobs varies greatly by region.

In New England, where winter are long and cold, vinyl window replacements reap a better return than they do in the warm South Atlantic region, where poorly insulated windows don’t mean as much expensive heat leaking away.

So, although replacement windows cost more in New England — an average of $11,155 — they add $9,152 to home values there, recouping 82.3% of their cost. In the South Atlantic states, they cost $9,705 but add just $7,417 to home values, 76.4% of their cost.

On the other hand, buyers in the South Atlantic seem to reward sellers for adding living space more than they do in New England. Maybe thrifty Yankees hate having to heat those extra rooms.

Finishing a basement returns 84.4% of its $55,357 cost in the South Atlantic and only 64% of the $65,715 New Englanders spend for the job.

Among the remodeling jobs faring the worst in return on investment were large, upscale kitchen remodels. They cost an average of $111,794 in 2009 and added $70,641 in recoupable value, just 63.2%.

That was down a whopping 7.5 percentage points from their 70.7% return on investment in 2008 . At the height of the housing boom, in 2005, upscale kitchen renovations returned more than 80% of their costs.

"A lot of the things that, historically, had huge value, don’t have as much today," said Phipps. "If you want to redo a kitchen, it may no longer make as much sense to use upscale appliances — Viking ranges, Sub-Zero refrigerator. Buyers may not pay any more than they would for a home with GE appliances instead."

Of course, most remodeling jobs are done to please homeowners. Any increase in home value is a bonus, not an end in itself. But for anyone thinking of selling in the near term, keeping an eye on the bottom line is always a good idea. 

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Accenture PLC said on Sunday that it will end its sponsorship of Tiger Woods, the second major sponsor to withdraw from the golf star amid headlines about domestic turmoil.

Gillette was the first to announce plans to stop using Woods in its promotions during his announced hiatus from golf folowing a car accident and reports of extramarital affairs.

Redwood City-based Electronic Arts Inc.(NASDAQ:ERTS), meanwhile, has stood by the star whose face and name are on its computer golf game. Also standing with the embattled golfer is AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE).

"After careful consideration and analysis, the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising," Accenture (NYSE:ACN) said Sunday.

The consulting company, which has an office in San Jose, had placed Woods as the centerpiece of its advertising. The company said it will immediately transition to a new campaign that had been scheduled to launch next year.

Gillette issued this statement on Saturday: "As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs."

AT&T said in a statement, "We support Tiger's decision and our thoughts will be with him and his family Low fee payday loans. We are presently evaluating our ongoing relationship with him."

EA also issued a statement last week, saying, ""We respect that this is a very difficult, and private, situation for Tiger and his family. At this time, the strategy for our Tiger Woods PGA Tour business remains unchanged."

An online Business Pulse survey being conducted this week by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal shows most believe Woods brand still has some value, although diminished (44 percent). Another 24 percent said they will never bank on his name again while about 29 percent believe the Woods brand is untouched or will bounce back.

Woods golfed for two years for Stanford University before turning pro and was inducted into the school's hall of fame at the annual big game with rival University of California just days before his the accident that triggered his recent problems. He was surprised by the boos of Cal fans, whose team went on to upset Stanford, 34-28.

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The economy expanded or improved “modestly” across the U.S. from October to mid-November as consumer spending rose in a majority of Federal Reserve districts, the central bank said.

Eight regions “indicated some pickup in activity or improvement in conditions,” while the other four said conditions were little changed or mixed, the Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey, published two weeks before officials meet to set monetary policy. The labor and commercial real estate markets remained “weak,” the report said.

Policy makers last month repeated their pledge to keep interest rates low for an “extended period” to bring down unemployment that’s forecast to remain above 10 percent even as the economy emerges from recession. A government report Dec. 4 is likely to show that companies reduced payrolls for a 23rd straight month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

“Economic conditions have generally improved modestly since the last report,” the Fed said. “Financial institutions generally reported steady to weaker loan demand, continued tight credit standards, and steady or deteriorating loan quality.”

Today’s Beige Book reflects information collected through Nov. 20 and summarized by staffers at the New York Fed. The four districts that didn’t report an improved economy were Atlanta, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Richmond.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies tomorrow before the Senate Banking Committee in a confirmation hearing for a second term that would begin Feb. 1. The Fed’s policy-setting Open Market Committee next meets Dec. 15-16 in Washington.

Stocks Rise

Stocks erased losses following the release of the Beige Book. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 1,109.24 at 4:05 p.m. in New York. The index has jumped more than 63 percent from its 2009 low on March 9 on prospects for a recovery from recession.

“This report is a little more upbeat than the previous one,” said former Fed Governor Lyle Gramley, who is now a senior economic adviser with New York-based Soleil Securities Corp. “Most districts are seeing the economy pick up just a little.”

The world’s largest economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual pace in the third quarter, the first expansion after four quarters of contraction and the fastest rate in two years.

Consumer spending, excluding autos, rose in seven districts, was “steady or mixed” in four and declined in one, St. Louis, the Fed said. Vehicle sales increased in six districts. Some regional banks said retailers had “recently become more optimistic about the holiday-season outlook.”

Consumer Spending

A report last month showed that consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, rebounded in October more than anticipated by economists. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, also exceeding expectations.

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said today that the U.S. economy “has hit bottom” and a recovery is “solidly under way,” with housing and consumer purchases of autos no longer a drag on growth.

While the labor market “remained weak since the last report, with further layoffs, sluggish hiring and high levels of unemployment in most districts,” the report said three districts had a slower pace of job cuts. In the Boston district, some businesses said they were starting to hire and reverse pay cuts or freezes.

The economy has lost 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. The unemployment rate may exceed 10 percent through the first half of 2010, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate remained a problem area for the economy, with markets and construction “depicted as very weak and, in many cases, deteriorating,” the Fed said.

The commercial mortgage default rate on loans held by U.S. banks more than doubled to 3.4 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as vacancies rose and rents declined, according to a report by Real Estate Econometrics LLC.

Bernanke said in a Nov. 16 speech that “fallout” for banks from commercial real estate could slow the country’s economic recovery.

While most regions reported increased home sales, new construction was “generally characterized as weak.” Three districts showed “some pickup” in home building, two reported declines and three said it was “flat or stabilizing.” The lower end of the market has been doing better than the higher end, the Fed said.

Home Sales

The number of contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes unexpectedly rose in October, a report yesterday showed, as consumers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that was due to expire. President Barack Obama on Nov. 6 extended the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers until April 30 from Nov. 30, and expanded it to include some current owners.

Sales of new homes increased 6.2 percent in October to a 430,000 annual rate, the fastest since September 2008.

In manufacturing, conditions were “on balance, steady to moderately improving across most of the country,” the Fed said. A report yesterday showed manufacturing in the U.S. expanded in November for a fourth consecutive month.

Fed regions “generally reported little or no upward wage pressures,” with most showing “stable selling prices.” Some districts “noted upward pressure in commodity prices,” the report said.

The Federal Open Market Committee repeated in its Nov. 4 statement that “with substantial resource slack likely to continue to dampen cost pressures and with longer-term inflation expectations stable, the committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time.”

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Oil futures sank more than 2% on Friday as investors worried about Dubai World’s debt woes and moved into safe-haven assets including the dollar.

Crude oil for January delivery fell $1.91, or 2.45%, to $76.05 a barrel.

"Money market players are generally moving away from risk, and much of that for now is due to uncertainty over the financial systems, specifically in reference to Dubai," said Brenda Sullivan, head of research at Sucden Financial in London.

Dubai World, the state-owned investment firm, requested an extension on $60 billion in debt payments and triggered credit concerns across world financial markets. The debt was used to feed a construction boom, but the Middle East country was challenged by a real estate crunch. (See correction below).

"A delay of repayments from Dubai World wouldn’t necessarily affect crude oil production, however it would impact the sentiment on financial stability and the financial strength of a number of different institutions," Sullivan said. "There have been reports of exposure by a number of banks, specifically HSBC and Standard Chartered among others that may have exposure to financial instruments related in Dubai World."

Dubai’s move threatened Wall Street’s confidence, and U.S. stocks were set to open lower Friday after ending higher Wednesday. U.S. markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Oil was also weakened by a stronger dollar. The greenback gained ground Friday versus its rivals, after sliding to a 15-month low Wednesday.

Crude oil, like other commodities, is priced in dollars, and a stronger buck weighs on prices.

Gasoline prices. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas decreased to $2.632, down one tenth of a cent from the previous day’s $2.633, according to motorist group AAA. This is the fifth consecutive decline.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Dubai World. 

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Motorola Inc is in the early stages of looking into a potential sale of its $4.5 billion television set-top box and network equipment business, two sources said on Wednesday.

Motorola is in the early stages of seeking buyers for the unit, whose suitors include private equity firms and other communications equipment makers, said one source familiar with the situation.

Motorola may decide to keep the unit in the end, said the source, who was not authorized to speak with the media.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are advising Motorola on the possible sale, the source said.

J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Motorola, which has been losing market share in its cellphone business for years, declined to comment, but said it was still focused on its previously stated plan to separate its handset business from the rest of the company.

Analysts said there could be a lot of interest in the home and networks unit, particularly because Motorola has a strong market share in the set-top box segment, where it is bigger than Scientific Atlanta, owned by Cisco Systems Inc.

But RBC analyst Mark Sue said that a divestiture of any of Motorola’s other business units could hurt Motorola’s money-losing handset business.

“The mobile devices business still needs the rest of the businesses to fund its operations payday cash advance loans. It hasn’t really recovered fully yet so it would be a little too early to cut off the lifeline,” Sue said.

While growth in the mobile network equipment market has slowed dramatically in recent years, rival gear makers could see Motorola as a way to increase their market share, particularly in the United States.

Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton said a $4.5 billion price tag would represent an 18 percent premium over his estimated valuation of $3.8 billion for the home and networks unit, based on operating earnings.

Analysts at Avian Securities said that their sum-of-parts analysis values Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility Division segment at $4.25 billion, according to an emailed report.

“Simply put, the deal price cited … is not far off from our valuation,” the report said.

Potential suitors could include Ericsson, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Alcatel Lucent SA or Nokia Siemens, a venture of Nokia and Siemens AG, analysts said.

The Wall Street Journal cited China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and UK based Pace Plc as other potential buyers.

The Wall Street Journal cited potential suitors as Silver Lake Partners and TPG. 

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Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney’s threat of action to stem gains in the nation’s currency may only have a fleeting influence on currency traders, analysts said.

Carney said yesterday that investors lost their “focus” on the central bank’s commitment to meet a 2 percent inflation target, and said action to weaken the Canadian dollar is an “option.” Hours later, Citigroup Inc. and MF Global Canada Co. said investors should keep buying the currency.

“We believe the Canadian dollar vulnerability should prove fleeting,” after Carney’s remarks, Citigroup strategists Todd Elmer in New York and Michael Hart in London wrote in a note to clients. “Canadian data is consistently surprising on the upside and Canada’s fiscal position is better than that of its peers.”

The recommendations widen a split that began in June when Carney first said the currency’s rise was a risk to inflation and economic growth. The main tool to influence the economy and currency has been exhausted after he cut his key interest rate to a record low 0.25 percent in April.

“Carney is basically issuing a challenge to the market to defy his desire for a certain level for the Canadian dollar,” said Aaron Fennell, a Toronto-based futures and currency broker at Lind-Waldock, a unit of MF Global Canada. “Mark Carney talking the U.S. dollar down is nothing more than an excellent buying opportunity.”

Repeated Promise

The Canadian currency, nicknamed the “loonie” for the bird on the dollar coin, depreciated 0.4 percent to C$1.0474 per U.S. dollar in Toronto yesterday, from C$1.0429 on Oct. 21. It has fallen 1 percent this week after the bank repeated a promise to keep its main rate unchanged through June 2010 and said the currency could “more than offset” other recent signs of economic growth.

The loonie has appreciated 16 percent this year, making the country’s shipments of automobiles, lumber and metals to the U.S. less competitive. The stronger currency restrains inflation by making imports cheaper.

“Markets should take seriously our determination to set policy to achieve the inflation target,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa yesterday, when asked if traders are contemplating the chances of central bank intervention. “Markets sometimes lose their focus; we don’t lose our focus.”

The Bank of Canada said that strength in the currency appears “to have been increasingly driven” by U.S. dollar weakness. It also raised its assumption for where the Canadian dollar will trade through 2011, to 96 U.S. cents, from 87 U.S. cents forecast in July.

‘Credibility at Stake’

“I think the odds of a foreign-exchange intervention are so far out of the money that the Bank of Canada has put a little credibility at stake,” said Sebastien Galy, a currency strategist in New York at BNP Paribas.

The central bank last acted to influence the Canada-U.S. exchange rate in 1998. The currency rose to a record high of 90.58 Canadian cents to the U.S. dollar in November 2007.

“Every other time we heard rhetoric, the market hasn’t paid attention to it,” said John Curran, a Toronto-based senior vice president at CanadianForex Ltd., an online foreign- exchange dealer. “They would have to dust off their dealing machines since they haven’t intervened in 10 years.”

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The U.S. economy lost fewer jobs in August as unemployment climbed to a 26-year high, indicating the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s will be slow to gain speed.

Companies cut payrolls by 216,000 workers, less than forecast, after a 276,000 drop in July, Labor Department data showed yesterday in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 9.7 percent, higher than anticipated, from 9.4 percent.

The figures stoked concern that a turnaround in the labor market will not begin until well after the recovery is forecast to take hold in the second half of the year. With the ranks of long-term unemployed nearing 5 million, workers are at risk of losing skills, making it difficult to eventually find a job.

“Labor market trends are improving, but the pace is a gradual one,” said Julia Coronado, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York. “Consumer incomes are still under pressure and prospects for growth thus remain fragile.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index yesterday closed up 1.3 percent at 1,016.4 in New York. The yield on the benchmark 10- year note climbed to 3.44 percent at 5:08 p.m. in New York, from 3.35 the prior day.

Rising joblessness underscores Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s judgment this week that it’s “too early” to start exiting from the unprecedented stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing the economy.

Job Cuts

AMR Corp. and Whirlpool Corp. are among the companies continuing to cut staff to lower costs and revive profits in the aftermath of the deepest recession since the 1930s.

“The labor market lags behind the rest of the economy, so we are first going to have to see positive GDP growth,” Christina Romer, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview yesterday. While 9.7 percent unemployment is “a tragedy,” Romer noted that the pace of job losses has slowed from 741,000 in January.

Romer said the Obama administration’s $787 billion fiscal stimulus is working to boost growth and declined to comment on whether a second effort will be needed.

Revisions subtracted 49,000 from payroll figures previously reported for July and June. The drop for July compared with the 247,000 previously reported.

Payrolls were forecast to fall 230,000 in August according to the median of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The jobless rate was projected to rise to 9.5 percent. Analysts in a monthly Bloomberg survey projected the jobless rate will reach 10 percent by early 2010 and average 9.8 percent next year.

Recession’s Toll

The latest numbers brought total jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007 to 6.9 million, the biggest decline in any post-World War II economic slump.

Among the 14.9 million unemployed Americans in August, 4.99 million were out of work for more than 26 weeks. The percentage of jobless who weren’t classified as on temporary layoff rose to 53 auto loan rates.9 percent, up from 39.1 percent a year ago.

Almost all categories recorded losses in August, with construction payrolls tumbling 65,000, factories cutting another 63,000 and retailers firing 10,000 people. Only education and health services boosted payrolls last month.

Whirlpool, the world’s largest appliance maker, is among those firms still eliminating positions. The Benton Harbor, Michigan-based company said Aug. 28 it will close its Evansville, Indiana, manufacturing plant, resulting in the elimination of 1,100 jobs.

Furloughs, Leave

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines, a unit of AMR, said this week it will furlough 228 flight attendants and put 244 more on involuntary leave.

Federal Reserve officials had “particular” concern about the job market when they met Aug. 11-12, minutes of the gathering showed this week.

“Long-term unemployment and permanent separations continued to rise, suggesting possible problems of skill loss and a need for labor reallocation that could slow recovery,” the Fed said in the minutes released Sept. 2.

Fed policy makers waited at least a year after unemployment peaked before raising interest rates in the aftermath of the previous two recessions.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, credited with preventing a second depression in winning nomination by President Barack Obama for a second term last month, has overseen a $1.2 trillion expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet to combat the credit crisis.

Hours Steady

Yesterday’s report also showed the average workweek held at 33.1 hours in August. Average weekly hours worked by production workers remained unchanged from the month before, at 39.8 hours, while overtime also held at 2.9 hours.

“We’re still going to see some months of job cuts,” said Brian Bethune, chief financial economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “There is a whole range of options, like adding shifts or hours, that companies can put in place until it becomes necessary to hire people back.”

Workers’ average hourly wages rose 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.65 from the prior month. Hourly earnings were 2.6 percent higher than August 2008. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.1 percent increase from the prior month and a 2.2 percent gain for the 12-month period.

The U.S. recession “is bottoming out” and the economy is poised for “a slow return,” Alcoa Inc. Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said in a Sept. 2 interview. The head of the largest U.S. aluminum producer said government stimulus in the U.S. and China will affect the New York-based company’s earnings “positively” this year.

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