Business Briefs

Wall Street greets quarter on up note

NEW YORK — The stock market's third quarter began on a positive note Wednesday after some reassuring data on manufacturing and the housing market. The gains were tempered, though, ahead of today's June jobs report.

The Labor Department is expected to show another uptick in the jobless rate to 9.6 percent. Growing unemployment has been keeping investors nervous about consumer spending.

Much of Wednesday's data was positive, including a report showing more stable U.S. manufacturing activity and another indicating the fourth straight monthly rise in pending home sales.

Car sales down but stability signs arise

DETROIT — U.S. car and truck sales showed signs of stabilizing in June after a year of sharp declines, but only Honda among the major automakers didn't report lower sales than in May.

Still, year-over-year declines last month slowed for four of the six major carmakers, with Ford reporting the smallest drop in a year at 10.7 percent compared to June of 2008.

Even Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in June, saw its year-over-year sales decline shrink.

General Motors sales slid 33.4 percent despite incentives and discounts on its Pontiac brand, while Toyota sales were off 32 percent. Honda saw a 30 percent decline because of extremely strong small-car sales last June when gasoline was above $4 a gallon. Nissan reported a narrower decline than in previous months, down only 23 percent.

Ad slump triggers layoffs at Gannett

NEW YORK — Newspaper publisher Gannett plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the coming weeks, or 3 percent of its work force, as it faces a prolonged slump in advertising revenue.

Bob Dickey, head of the newspaper division, told staff members of the layoffs in a letter Wednesday. He said "there have been some promising signs of a recovery, but the reality is the improvements are not broad-based and the economy continues to be fragile."

In South Carolina, Gannett owns The Greenville News. Gannett also publishes USA Today, the largest U.S. newspaper by circulation.

McDonald's cooks up a beefier burger

NEW YORK — McDonald's will begin selling a new line of bigger burgers priced at about $4 each today to bring in customers looking for a beefy alternative to pricier burgers at sit-down restaurants.

The burgers are made with one-third pound of Angus beef and come in three varieties, a deluxe burger with pickles and tomatoes, a mushroom swiss burger and a bacon cheeseburger. The burgers will be sold in all U.S. locations for the next few months.

Crabtree & Evelyn files for bankruptcy

NEW YORK — Soap and lotion seller Crabtree & Evelyn said it filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, a victim of the slowdown in consumer spending.

It said it will evaluate its real estate portfolio and try to terminate leases on underperforming stores to try to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy.

The privately held chain runs 126 retail stores as well as wholesale, export and online businesses.