Longaberger adds holiday positions

Longaberger adds holiday positions

NEWARK, Ohio

The Ohio-based Longa-berger basket company says it’s calling back about 60 laid-off basket makers in preparation for the holiday season.

Company spokesman Tom Matthews says many of the former employees already have returned, and a few more will be called back this week.

Matthews says the workers will help the company build inventory before the holidays. The Newark Advocate reported Thursday that the workers will be kept on through late December.

Matthews says the company is encouraged by some of its online sales numbers.

The move comes after a series of layoffs this year.

Longaberger eliminated 35 full-time accounting, marketing and customer-care positions in August, laid off 12 woodcraft workers in April and eliminated 125 manufacturing jobs in January.

Consumers cut back on credit-card use

WASHINGTON

Consumer borrowing fell again in August as consumers cut back on credit-card use for the 24th-consecutive month, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

Borrowing by consumers declined by $3.3 billion that month. It was the 18th drop for overall consumer borrowing in the past 19 months.

Americans are borrowing and spending less as they face widespread unemployment and uncertainty about their financial futures. The reduced use of credit by consumers is a drag on the recovery, which has yet to show a sustained rebound.

GM, UAW reach deal on wage cuts

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich.

General Motors and the United Auto Workers have reached a cost-cutting deal that could help accomplish what once seemed impossible: Making a profit on small cars built in the United States.

The deal, announced Thursday, could cut in half the hourly wage of some longtime UAW workers at a factory in Orion Township, Mich. It’s the first time the union has agreed to a pay cut for workers who are not new hires.

A revamped subcompact, the Chevrolet Aveo, will be built at the plant starting next year. The plant is currently closed.

The factory also will produce a small Buick sedan called the Verano. Because the Buick is an upscale version of the Chevrolet Cruze, it will fetch a higher price. The Cruze, which is just reaching showrooms, starts around $17,000.

Associated Press