Business Highlights

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Companies add 67K workers, but jobless rate rises

WASHINGTON (AP) - Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, a glimmer of hope for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose because not enough jobs were created to absorb the growing number of people looking for work.

Companies added a net total of 67,000 new jobs last month and both July and June's private-sector job figures were upwardly revised, the Labor Department said Friday.

While the report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, it's a reassuring sign after weeks of troubling data and comes after some encouraging economic figures in the past week.

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Stocks extend September rally after jobs report

NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market had its first winning week in a month thanks to better news on the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 128 points Friday, its fourth straight day of gains. The strong start to September marked a turnaround from a dismal performance in August.

A better-than-expected report on employment Friday was the latest piece of improving news on the economy. Stocks also gained earlier this week following signs that manufacturing was gaining in the U.S. and China.

Even after its four-day run, which added 438 points to the Dow, the index is still 6.8 percent below the 2010 high it reached on April 26. Stocks had eased slightly after a report showed that the services sector didn't grow as fast as hoped in August.

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What now for Gulf? Fire complicates drill debate

WASHINGTON (AP) - News of another oil rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico, so soon after the BP oil spill, has set off a wave of anxiety along the Gulf Coast and prompted calls for the government to extend its six-month ban on deepwater drilling.

Just when it seemed the Obama administration might be ready to lift the unpopular ban, the fire raises new questions about the dangers of offshore drilling, leaving the industry wondering when it can get back to work.

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Obama planning new package of economic aid

WASHINGTON (AP) - Eager to jumpstart the economy ahead of crucial midterm elections, President Barack Obama said Friday he intends to unveil a new package of proposals, likely including tax cuts and targeted spending, to spark job growth.

Obama spoke in the Rose Garden after the August jobs report came out better than expected, showing the private sector adding 67,000 new jobs last month and revising upward the numbers from June and July. But unemployment ticked upward to 9.6 percent as more people entered the job market, and the president said it wasn't good enough.

Administration officials say a big new stimulus bill like last year's $814 billion measure is not in the offing - nervous lawmakers looking to November's balloting would not be expected to approve an expensive new measure. But Obama said he'd be proposing a new set of ideas next week. He's likely to detail them during a speech on the economy Wednesday in Cleveland, midway through an economy-focused week capped by a rare White House news conference.

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Campbell reports Q4 profit rise on better margins

HADDONFIELD, N.J. (AP) - Summer is rarely a hot sales season for Campbell Soup Co., and this year's sweltering June and July made that even more true, but the company said Friday that cost-cutting and strong drink sales helped its net income climb.

The results topped most Wall Street expectations, but Campbell's outlook spooked many investors, and its shares slid 3 percent Friday.

The Camden company reported that its fourth-quarter net income rose 63 percent from the same period last year to $113 million, or 33 cents per share. Excluding one-time items from 2009's results, the increase was 7 percent.

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UPS cargo plane crashes near Dubai airport

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A UPS cargo plane with two crew members on board crashed shortly after takeoff Friday outside Dubai, officials said.

The state news agency WAM, quoting the General Civil Aviation Authority, reported that the "bodies of two pilots" had been found at the scene, but UPS did not confirm that.

The plane went down inside an Emirati air base near a busy highway intersection about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Dubai's international airport. WAM said the crash occurred in an unpopulated desert area, suggesting there may not have been casualties on the ground.

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Experts see trouble ahead for developed world

CERNOBBIO, Italy (AP) - Is the global economy out of the woods? Two years after near-meltdown, with the U.S. looking sluggish, equity markets groggy and Europeans fighting a debt crisis, experts gathered in Italy offered a generally gloomy outlook, especially for the United States and much of the industrialized world.

The doomsayers were led by New York University economist Nouriel Roubini, who warned of a "significant risk of a double-dip recession" in the U.S., Japan and many European countries.

Some of the assembled experts and leaders at the annual Ambrosetti Forum on the shores of Lake Como were somewhat more upbeat, but most appeared to agree on a sobering array of basic problems standing in the way of true recovery.

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Watch those gas pumps; prices expected to fall

DENVER (AP) - Gasoline prices have been falling for weeks, and they could go even lower as autumn's leaves begin to drop.

The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.681 on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's 6.6 cents lower than a month ago and 8.5 cents higher than a year ago.

The national average has stayed below $3 a gallon for nearly two years, and most analysts think it won't return to that level anytime soon.

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AP Interview: Wikipedia founder bullish on news

CERNOBBIO, Italy (AP) - Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales believes relief may be in sight for the beleaguered news media industry.

The increasing use of the mobile Internet and for-pay "apps" that run on smart phones and other gadgets might give news providers what they've been searching for: a way to charge for digital content, Wales told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.

As founder of one of the world's most popular websites, the 44-year-old American is a key Internet entrepreneur.

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Goldcorp to buy Andean Resources for $3.42B

TORONTO (AP) - Canada's Goldcorp Inc. said Friday it has agreed to buy Andean Resources Ltd. for about 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (US$3.42 billion), trumping a rival bid from Eldorado Gold Corp.

The acquisition would give Goldcorp, the world's second-largest gold producer by market capitalization, access to Andean's Cerro Negro gold project in Argentina, which is said to have a significant amount of gold and silver.

The Goldcorp-Andean deal has been approved by both companies' boards but requires approval by a majority of Andean shareholders. The companies expect the deal to close later this year or in early 2011.

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By The Associated Press

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 127.83, or 1.2 percent, at 10,447.93.

Broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 14.41, or 1.3 percent, to 1,104.51, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 33.74, or 1.5 percent, to 2,233.75.

Benchmark crude for October delivery fell 42 cents to settle at $74.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other October contracts, heating oil fell 0.5 cent to $2.0573 a gallon, gasoline slipped 0.21 cent to $1.9195 a gallon and natural gas added 18.8 cents to $3.939 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude lost 26 cents to $76.67 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.