Business Briefs

Ex-SCE&G affiliate relocating its HQ

COLUMBIA — A former sister company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. plans to relocate its headquarters to Fairfield County, where SCE&G intends to build two nuclear reactors.

Primesouth Inc. said Tuesday it will invest $1.68 million and hire 400 workers as it moves its operations and maintenance business to Ridgeway.

Primesouth provides operation and maintenance services for power-generating companies. It also will train construction and maintenance specialists. SCE&G is partnering with state-owned utility Santee Cooper to build and operate the $10 billion reactors.

Firm expanding Upstate operation

COLUMBIA — A company that makes home improvement equipment and products will invest $3.8 million to expand its operations in Pickens County and create 152 jobs, the state Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Techtronic Industries North America's Outdoor Products Group will move its generator business from China to Pickens. It will also expand production of its pressure washer projects and begin producing gas-powered trimmers next year.

Monitor dropping daily print edition

BOSTON —The Christian Science Monitor said Tuesday it will become the first national newspaper to drop its daily print edition and focus on publishing online, succumbing to the financial pressure squeezing its industry harder than ever.

Come April, the general-interest paper will print only a weekend edition.

The Monitor's circulation has fallen from a peak of 223,000 in 1970 to about 50,000. Online traffic has soared to about 5 million page-views a month.

August home price indices fall sharply

NEW YORK — Home prices tumbled by the sharpest annual rate ever in August, with little indication of a turnaround in sight, a closely watched index showed Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index dropped a record 16.6 percent from August last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.7 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.

Whirlpool cutting jobs as profits fall

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Whirlpool Corp. said Tuesday it will cut about 5,000 jobs by the end of 2009, in large part because of the long downturn in the U.S. housing market.

The largest U.S. home appliance maker also reported that earnings fell 7 percent to $163 million during the third quarter. Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 edged up 2 percent to $4.9 billion.

Automakers seek more federal help

WASHINGTON — Beleaguered U.S. automakers are seeking federal help beyond the money Congress has made available as part of a financial industry bailout and a measure to retool their assembly plants for more fuel-efficient cars, the White House said Tuesday.

General Motors is pursuing about $5 billion to $10 billion in aid, said an industry official.