Roundup: Feds seek to manage Takata air bag recall, speed up repairs; St. Clair Hospital purchases land for $4.45M; more
Feds seek to manage Takata air bag recall
Exploding air bags made by Takata Corp. are so dangerous that safety regulators want to manage a widespread recall so cars can be fixed faster.
On Tuesday, Takata doubled the size of its recall to 33.8 million air bags, making it the largest recall in U.S. history. The air bags can inflate with too much force, sending metal shrapnel into drivers and passengers. So far, the problem has caused six deaths, including five in the United States.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in paperwork posted Thursday, said the recall involving 11 manufacturers has generated a patchwork of solutions that may not fix the problem quickly enough. The agency, for the first time in its history, has started the legal process asking for input on how it can control production, delivery and installation of replacement air bag inflators.
St. Clair Hospital purchases Mt. Lebanon lots for $4.45M
St. Clair Hospital purchased four parcels of land adjacent to its Mt. Lebanon campus, officials said Thursday. The hospital did not disclose plans for the 3.7 acre property, which is bordered by Bower Hill Road and North Wren Drive.
The hospital paid $4.45 million for the property. It had been a neighborhood shopping center until it was acquired by a corporate affiliate of Walgreens in 2004. The hospital will review its master facility plan before announcing potential uses of the property, officials said.
Dollar Tree to sell 330 Family Dollar stores
Dollar Tree expects to reach a deal in the coming days to sell about 330 Family Dollar stores in order to receive approval of its $8.5 billion acquisition of Family Dollar.
The dollar-store chain did not name the possible buyer for the Family Dol lar stores or which locations would be sold. The Federal Trade Commission is requiring Dollar Tree to sell the stores.
The 330 Family Dollar stores represent about $45.5 million in operating income, Dollar Tree said.
Even after selling the stores, a combination of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar would establish the largest dollar store company in the country with more than 13,000 stores.
Summer jobs expected to be plentiful, pay more
Good news for summer job seekers: Jobs should be more plentiful this year, and a majority of employers have jobs paying more than $15 per hour, according to a new report.
The $15-per-hour wage has been highlighted this week by thousands of demonstrators at McDonald's headquarters, where workers demanded higher wages for frontline employees at all McDonald's restaurants, not just company-owned ones.
A report released Thursday by CareerBuilder showed 53 percent of employers offered summer jobs that have roles paying $15 or more per hour, on average. Nearly three-quarters, 72 percent, will pay summer hired $10 or more per hour. That's up from 64 percent last year.
Gauge of health of economy jumps 0.7% in April
An index designed to predict the health of the economy posted a strong gain in April, a positive sign that the economy is beginning to accelerate from a sharp slowdown during the winter.
The Conference Board says its index of leading indicators rose 0.7 percent, and the March increase was revised up to show a 0.4 percent gain, better than the initial 0.2 percent estimate. Those two gains followed a decline of 0.2 percent in February.
Economists at the Conference Board say that the solid rebound in April is evidence that the paltry economic performance during the first quarter should be a temporary slowdown.
— Staff and wire reports
