Caterpillar Sets More Layoffs

Caterpillar said it is laying off an additional 2,110 workers, bringing the week's total to about 22,000, as the company scrambles to cope with a downturn in demand for its construction and mining equipment. The latest cuts affect plants that build products for the mining and energy industries, customers that had helped sustain Caterpillar as other key markets, like residential construction, swooned. The recent dramatic pullback in commodity and oil prices has forced those customers to rethink their plans for investment in new equipment. More

Talks Ongoing for New U.S. Refinery Workers Contract

United Steelworkers negotiators and oil company representatives returned to the bargaining table Sunday, one day after telling thousands of U.S. refinery and chemical plant workers to stay on the job as they try to hammer out a new national contract. The USW decided Saturday night to extend the current agreement on a rolling 24-hour basis to keep talks ongoing without a nationwide strike. More

Wind: Embracing America's Fastest Growing Form of Renewable Energy

Using the wind to produce electricity has, for many decades, been little more than a footnote to energy production in the U.S. Wind turbines were something one dreamed about building while flipping through the back pages of Popular Mechanics. Even a few years back, wind was considered a minor power source, despite success stories in several European countries. But that's all changed. More

Shifts Expected in Upcoming Pentagon Budget

The Pentagon’s commitment to retaining the capability to fight in two simultaneous conflicts in the growing era of irregular warfare will likely have a major effect in upcoming budget requests - especially for pet programs like F-22s, the Future Combat System (FCS) and the Navy’s DDG-1000 program, according to analyst James McAleese of McAleese & Associates. More

Commentary: Fiat’s Roots Matter Little if Deal Saves Chrysler

The furor over Fiat's proposal to take a 35 percent interest in Chrysler raises a fundamental question: Is government aid for the auto industry about helping Main Street vs. Wall Street? If it's about helping Wall Street, the critics have a point: A foreign company would get a share of any theoretical profit Chrysler may someday earn. However, if the loans exist to preserve American jobs -- the factory workers, engineers and others who live and shop on Main Street -- Fiat's nationality is irrelevant. More

World Leaders Wary of U.S. Economic Measures

This was supposed to be the year the United States came in from the cold at the annual gathering of world leaders here. But instead of receiving a warm embrace, American policies were rebuked again and again in rhetoric that recalled the anger of the Bush years - mainly aimed at what the world views as the new threat of protectionism by the United States. Whether the issue was the recent bailout for the American auto industry or proposals favoring American steel producers in the stimulus package now being debated on Capitol Hill, foreign officials warned that any move toward protectionism would have serious consequences for Washington and the rest of the world. More

U.S. Manufacturing Contracts, But PMI Rises

Economic activity in the United States manufacturing sector failed to grow in January for the twelfth consecutive month, and the overall economy contracted for the fourth consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the Institute for Supply Management's latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. More

Car Sales: From Bad to Worse

Consumers may have had an easier time getting car loans last month, but don't look for that to fuel a rebound in battered auto sales when automakers report their January sales Tuesday. Auto finance units GMAC and Chrysler Financial received $7.5 billion in federal loans between them since the waning days of December. That allowed them to make more attractive financing offers to a wider range of potential clients. But forecasts of a modest pickup in sales to consumers are being more than offset by a sharp plunge in purchases by rental car companies, which in a typical year can buy close to 3 million vehicles a year. More