Service Sector Grows
Activity in the service sector increased at a slightly stronger pace in January than in December, the Institute for Supply Management said. The group reported that its non-manufacturing index rose to 54.5, from the downwardly revised 54.2 in December. Index readings above 50 indicate expansion of activity and prices. The non- manufacturing employment index rose for the first time since February 2001, to 50.3, from 46.9 in December.</br></br>After suspending the sale of dollars for two weeks because of a crippling general strike, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a new fixed currency exchange rate to help bolster the country's flagging foreign reserves. The new policy fixes the currency rate at 1,596 bolivars to the dollar, Chavez said. Chavez said the freeze on foreign currency trading would end with the establishment of the new system. The bolivar closed at a record low of 1,853 on Jan. 21, the last day of currency trading, and trades for 2,500 per dollar on the black market. The decline, in turn, sent inflation past 30 percent, and many economists forecast a 25 percent recession this year.</br></br>Federal safety regulators ordered new inspections of Boeing 747 fuselages as a result of the investigation into the China Airlines crash in the Taiwan Strait in May. The plane broke into four pieces in flight, killing all 225 aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered U.S. operators of 747s to check to see whether a metal repair patch, or doubler, was used to cover scratches or cracks on the underside of the fuselage near the aircraft's tail. Investigators found scratches and a 15-inch crack under a doubler that had been attached to the China Airlines plane after the tail hit a runway in 1980, according to the FAA.</br></br>Delta Air Lines said it will reduce the pay of most executives by 8 percent and the wages of chief executive Leo F. Mullin and President Frederick W. Reid by 10 percent on March 1. Delta also may lower employee pay to keep pace with wage cuts at airlines that have filed for bankruptcy protection, Mullin said.</br></br>Bank of America said it is slashing about 1,000 jobs in technology and operations during the first quarter amid a continued economic slump. The cuts follow the elimination of about 900 jobs in technology and operations in November and December. After the job reductions are complete, the total number of workers in those areas will be 20,000.