NATION

NATION
Big-ticket item ordersfell by 2.4% in April
WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket goods fell in April by the largest amount in seven months, fresh evidence that the battered manufacturing sector is the weakest link in the economy's ability to get back to full speed.
The Commerce Department reported today that orders for durable goods -- manufactured products such as cars and appliances expected to last at least three years -- dropped by 2.4 percent in April from the month before, when they rose by 1.4 percent.
April's decline in orders was deeper than the 1 percent decrease economists were expecting and marked the largest drop since September.
1st Nissan vehicle rolls offMississippi assembly line
CANTON, Miss. -- Less than three years after Nissan announced it was coming to Mississippi, a gold Quest minivan rolled off the assembly line Tuesday to officially open the first phase of a $1.4 billion plant.
The Quest burst through a paper barrier -- the first tangible product of more than two years of construction on the 3.5 million-square-foot plant. Nissan's other U.S. plant was opened in 1983 in Smyrna, Tenn.
When it reaches its full production capacity in 2004 of 400,000 vehicles a year, the plant will have as many as 5,300 workers. It has 1,950 employees so far.
In addition to Quest minivans, the plant will be used to make Nissan's first full-size truck, the Titan; its first full-size sport utility vehicles, the Nissan Pathfinder Armada and an Infinity version; and the Altima sedan.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports