Aetna shifting Connecticut hub to NYC
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Insurance giant Aetna made it official Thursday, announcing it will move its headquarters to New York City beginning in late 2018 after nearly two centuries in Hartford, Conn.
Mark Bertolini, Aetna's chief executive officer and chairman, said New York City is a "knowledge economy hub" and a driver of innovations.
"Many of the roles in our new office will be filled by innovators from the area's deep talent pool, which will be an invaluable resource as we consider additional investments in the city going forward," he said in a written statement.
The news was not surprising to Connecticut officials, who learned in May that Aetna was in negotiations with several states about moving its corporate base from the state's capital. It comes about a year and a half after General Electric announced it was moving its headquarters in Fairfield to Boston. Aetna said its move will have minimal impact on the Connecticut employee base and the company remains committed to its campus in Hartford, where its presence dates to 1819.
"Connecticut has a long history with Aetna, and we appreciate that thousands of their employees will continue to work and live here in the state," said Meg Green, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy. "While Hartford may not be New York City, we are proud of the city's revitalization. Hartford provides a strong foundation for any company in the insurance sector, large or small."
-- The Associated Press
BP exits Angola deal, writes off $750M
BP PLC expects to write off about $750 million after deciding not to develop a natural gas discovery in Angola because it isn't commercially viable.
BP relinquished its 50 percent interest in Block 24/11 off southern Angola, where the Katambi discovery was made in 2014, the company said in a statement Thursday. The write-off in the second quarter, which also includes other exploration charges in Angola, will not affect BP's cash flow, it said.
Oil companies are re-evaluating which projects to go ahead with as crude's three-year slump squeezes balance sheets. BP abandoned its search for oil in the Great Australian Bight last year and Royal Dutch Shell PLC gave up exploring in Alaska after it failed to find commercial quantities of oil.
"We are making disciplined choices throughout our business, including in exploration," Bernard Looney, chief executive officer for BP's upstream business, said in the statement.
-- Bloomberg News
30-year mortgage rate hits low for year
WASHINGTON -- Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged to lower this week, as the benchmark 30-year rate reached a new low for the year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.90 percent last week. The rate stood at 3.48 percent a year ago and averaged a record low 3.65 percent in 2016.
The 15-year, fixed-rate home loan, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their mortgages, was unchanged last week at 3.17 percent.
Mortgage rates have remained low even though the Federal Reserve has been raising short-term interest rates. The Fed has increased its key rate by a quarter-point three times since December, most recently this month, to a range of 1 to 1.25 percent.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week.
-- The Associated Press
Filings for jobless benefits edge higher
WASHINGTON -- Slightly more people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, but the number of applications remained at a historically low level suggesting a strong job market.
The Labor Department said weekly applications rose by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 244,000. The less volatile four-week average fell 2,750 to 242,250.
The number of people receiving unemployment benefit checks rose 11,835 to 1,828,688. That figure has fallen by 10 percent in the past year.
Applications are a close indication of layoffs. They have come in below 300,000, a historically low level, for 121 weeks in a row. That's the longest such stretch since 1970. Employers have added jobs at a steady pace this year, though somewhat slower than in 2016, and the unemployment rate is at a 16-year low of 4.3 percent.
-- The Associated Press
Egg prices plummet as supply balloons
Egg supplies in the U.S. have surged so much in recent months that prices are the lowest for this time of year in at least a decade.
It will probably take a while for consumers to eat through the surplus inventory, so the government is predicting egg costs will drop more than any other food group in 2017.
The slump marks a sharp turnaround in the egg business. In 2015, a bird flu outbreak forced farmers to destroy millions of birds and prices skyrocketed. Eager to take advantage of the rally, producers expanded flocks that were the biggest ever by the end of last year. But demand hasn't kept pace. While some farms have scaled back in recent months, hens have gotten more productive, keeping the market flush with supply.
"The market was temporarily starved for eggs, and now it's drowning," said Tom Elam, president of Carmel, Ind.-based consulting firm FarmEcon LLC. "There's just too many eggs out there."
Retailers were charging $1.414 on average for a dozen eggs in May, the lowest for the month since 2006, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Prices have plummeted 52 percent from a record $2.966 reached in September 2015.
-- Bloomberg News
Michigan says shut submerged oil lines
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Michigan's attorney general called Thursday for shutting down twin oil pipelines that run beneath the waterway where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet.
Republican Bill Schuette said a "specific and definite timetable" should be established for decommissioning the nearly 5-mile-long section of Enbridge Inc.'s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.
He said one option was a tunnel under the straits that would "create infrastructure and construction jobs" while allowing for "continuous visual inspection."
Schuette commented as Michigan prepared to release a consultant's report analyzing alternatives to Line 5, which has been in place since 1953. Environmental groups say it's unsafe and want it removed, although the company insists it's in good shape.
It carries about 23 million gallons of light crude oil and liquid natural gas daily across sections of Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 06/30/2017