National Business Digest

NATION

Steve & Barry stores to be closed in bankruptcy

NEW YORK — Steve & Barry stores and its parent company have abandoned plans to keep stores open during bankruptcy protection and will liquidate them over the next few months, according to a bankruptcy court filing. The retailer, which has a store in the Eastwood Mall in Niles, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July after its growth plans were hurt as consumers cut back on spending.

Honda cuts include 6,000 Ohio-made vehicles

NEW YORK — Honda says it is cutting its North American production by an additional 18,000 vehicles.

Company Spokesman Ed Miller says the cuts are on top of others announced earlier this year and bring the automaker’s total cuts since August to 50,000 units. Miller said 12,000 of the cuts will be made at a plant in Alabama and 6,000 will be made in Ohio. The company said it won’t need to make work force changes as a result of the cuts.

Mortgage rates decline for third consecutive week

WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates dropped for a third straight week, reflecting the impact the weakening economy is having on financial markets.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giant, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, down from 6.14 percent last week. It marked a sharp decline since rates hit a recent high of 6.46 percent during the week of Oct. 16.

Thrifts lose in third quarter after setting billions aside

WASHINGTON — U.S. thrifts lost $4 billion in the third quarter as they set aside $7.9 billion to cover losses from bad mortgages and other loans, their government regulator said Thursday.

Thrift institutions have been at the center of the U.S. housing crisis, and some of the largest have collapsed in recent months. The quarterly results released by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision exclude Seattle-based thrift Washington Mutual Inc., whose failure in September was the largest in U.S. history, and Pasadena, Calif-based IndyMac Bank, which failed in July.

OHIO

Grant aids job training in wake of Ohio DHL closing

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Southwestern Ohio will receive a $3.87 million federal grant to help with job training as shipping company DHL proceeds with plans to close its Wilmington facility, members of Congress said Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Labor agreed to provide a National Emergency Grant that will help pay for job training for about 8,000 workers expected to lose their jobs, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a statement. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services applied for the money in August.

Associated Press