BUSINESS DIGESET | Most metro areas show gains in jobs

Most metro areas show gains in jobs

WASHINGTON

Unemployment rates are falling in most metro areas across the country, suggesting that recent nationwide gains in hiring are widespread and not limited to a few healthy regions.

More than three-quarters of the nation’s 372 largest metro areas reported lower unemployment rates in February than the previous month, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That’s the most to report a decline since September.

More than 300 areas added jobs in February compared with the previous month. That’s a much better showing than January, when most metro areas lost jobs.

Dish Network wins Blockbuster auction

NEW YORK

Dish Network Corp. said Wednesday that it won the auction for Blockbuster Inc. with a bid valued at $228 million in cash.

As of Tuesday, the satellite TV company, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and a group of debt holders were the three remaining bidders for the Dallas movie-rental chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

Dish’s bid was for $320 million, but the value decreases to $228 million after adjusting for available cash and inventory.

Bailout for Portugal

LISBON, Portugal

Portugal became the third debt-stressed European country to need a bailout as the prime minister announced Wednesday his country will request international assistance to ease its rapidly worsening financial crisis.

Portugal has followed Greece and Ireland, other financially troubled eurozone countries, in asking for aid from Europe’s bailout reserve and the International Monetary Fund.

Analysts expect Portugal will need up to 80 billion euros ($114.4 billion) — an amount bearable for Europe’s finances.

Toyota sells its 1 millionth Prius

DETROIT

The Toyota Prius hybrid, once viewed as a science experiment for environmentalists, has become a mainstream vehicle in the United States, with the company selling more than a million of the cars nationwide.

Toyota announced Wednesday that it had passed the million sales milestone, helped by brisk sales recently as U.S. gasoline prices continued to rise toward $4 per gallon.

VINDICATOR WIRE REPORTS