Business news in brief

A.C. Moore names Jeffries CEO

A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc. has named Joseph A. Jeffries its new chief executive officer. Jeffries had been acting CEO since March 31, when Rick A. Lepley retired as chief executive of the Berlin, Camden County, arts-and-crafts retail chain. Under Lepley's leadership, the publicly traded company shut down stores and began implementing a new inventory system to improve sales and profitability in the sluggish economy. - Maria Panaritis

Jobs rise; so does jobless rate

Pennsylvania employers added jobs to their payrolls in May for the third straight month, but the state's unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a point to 9.1 percent, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. May's gain of 19,500 jobs brought the total of jobs created in the last three months to 76,200. However, the state estimated that 20,000 of those were temporary hires for the U.S. census. The number of unemployed people in May rose by 7,000, to 591,000. - Paul Schweizer

Pa. commission OKs water rules

The Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission has approved new rules requiring Marcellus Shale gas operators to adhere to strict wastewater-discharge standards. The rules require gas operators to heavily treat wastewater to remove salty total dissolved solids - chlorides and sulfides - so streams do not exceed the safe drinking-water standard of 500 milligrams per liter. The rules now await review by the environmental resources and energy committees in the state House and Senate. Though the gas industry says it is increasingly recycling water used in hydraulic-fracturing operations and reducing discharges, it is likely to mount a legal challenge because it says the rules unfairly apply to a new industry, not to existing sources that account for most of the discharges. - Andrew Maykuth

Fraud probe nets nearly 500 arrests

The Justice Department has announced a crackdown on mortgage fraud, disclosing that investigators have made nearly 500 arrests since March. The cases involve more than $2.3 billion in losses. Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in Philadelphia said it had charged 20 defendants in a variety of scams. The task force said the cases involved more than $40 million in fraudulent loans and hundreds of defrauded homeowners. - AP

Penn National sues partner

Penn National Gaming Inc., Wyomissing, Pa., said it had filed a lawsuit in Camden County to force its joint-venture partner in Freehold Raceway, Greenwood Racing Inc., to begin development of an offtrack wagering location in the county. The suit cites multiple breaches of fiduciary duty by three appointed Greenwood Racing directors, as well as antitrust claims under federal and state laws. Penn National contends Greenwood Racing used various tactics to stall development of the facility because it owns other offtrack wagering properties in and around Philadelphia and Vineland, N.J., that would be hurt by the new competitor. - Suzette Parmley

First cruise of year sets sail

The Philadelphia Cruise Terminal at the Navy Yard is getting its first cruise of the year Saturday. The seven-night, eight-day sail will be on the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay. The 93-passenger ship, American Spirit, is operated by American Cruise Lines. More information is on the site www.americancruiselines.com. - Linda Loyd

FCC denies comment extension

With a Monday deadline approaching, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday denied a request from Bloomberg L.P. to extend the public-comment period over the proposed merger between Comcast Corp., Philadelphia, and NBC Universal Inc. to early August. Bloomberg had said the extra time was necessary to review all the documents in the case. All groups opposed to the merger are expected to file their comments with the FCC by the end of business on Monday. - Bob Fernandez

Elsewhere

House authorizes lending fund

The House, by a 241-182 vote, authorized creation of a $30 billion government fund to be used by community banks to boost lending to small businesses. Democrats said the goal was to loosen tight credit markets, but Republicans said the plan would do little to increase lending. The measure is in a bill that now goes to the Senate and includes tax increases that would offset the tax cuts and pay for the lending plan. - AP

U.S. vehicles top imports in quality

U.S. automakers have surpassed imported brands for the first time on a survey of the quality of new cars. J.D. Power & Associates says that owners of domestic cars reported fewer problems on average during the first 90 days of ownership than foreign cars and trucks. J.D. Power says Ford showed some of the biggest gains in quality. Porsche was the top scorer among individual brands. - AP

Spirit Airlines resuming flights

Spirit Airlines Inc. was resuming flights late Thursday after its pilots made a deal Wednesday to end their strike. Spirit expected to resume full service Friday. A spokeswoman for Atlantic City International Airport told the Atlantic City Press that the first flight from the airport would depart at 5:45 p.m. Spirit says passengers with travel plans for Friday should confirm flights at www.spiritair.com. - AP

SEC proposes new trade rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission put forward proposed new rules spelling out when and at what prices stock trades would be canceled, in a response to last month's "flash crash" in the market. Under the proposal, there would be a series of thresholds for canceling trades when prices diverge from the last sale before pricing was disrupted. - AP