DIGEST
Sales of new homes tumbled 5.8 percent in April while a key index of future economic activity slipped 0.1 percent, two signs that the Federal Reserve's higher interest rates are beginning to slow the economy. The Commerce Department said sales of new single-family homes edged down to an annual rate of 909,000 last month in the biggest one-month drop since a 7.2 percent decrease in September. Meanwhile, the index of leading economic indicators declined by 0.1 percent last month, according to the Conference Board in New York.</br></br>Virginia's jobless rate dropped to 2.3 percent in April, only the third time the rate has been that low in more than 30 years, the Virginia Employment Commission said. The rate dropped from 2.5 percent in March and was far below the national jobless rate of 3.7 percent in April. The number of Virginians looking for work declined from 91,500 in March to 82,000 in April. Fairfax City had the lowest jobless rate at 0.6 percent, followed by the city of Bedford at 0.7 percent. Manassas Park and Greene, Rockingham and Loudoun counties had rates of 0.9 percent.</br></br>AT&T, which is trying to become the largest U.S. cable-TV provider through acquisitions, plans to carry the Hot Network, a pay-per-view channel that shows sexually explicit movies. Financial terms were not disclosed. The channel is owned by Hot Networks, a privately owned company that also operates the Hot Zone, another sex-oriented channel.</br></br>Brown Brothers, Harriman, the oldest privately held U.S. bank, said it will exit the brokerage business to focus on managing money for wealthy individuals. Brown Brothers, founded in 1818, will fire 78 analysts, traders and support staff from among the 125 people who work in its institutional brokerage business.</br></br>Sunterra, operator of 90 time-share resorts in North America, Europe and Asia, said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection from its creditors after recent losses and debt-payment problems. Orlando-based Sunterra, which employed 7,800 people at the end of December, said last week that it will fire more than 900 workers and cut costs by halting sales at some resorts.