Business news in brief

In the Region

Delaware to see uptick in jobs

Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that it would add more than 500 jobs during the next three years to its workforce in Delaware. Gov. Jack Markell said the bank's decision was a strong endorsement of the state's workforce and its commitment to middle-class careers supported by the financial industry. BofA executive David Darnell said state officials created an exceptional environment for the bank to do business. Bank of America also said it would donate one of its buildings in Wilmington to a new nonprofit group that aims to help charter schools in Delaware. - AP

U.S. jobless claims show big drop

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the fourth drop in five weeks and the fewest number of claims since March 2008 - six months before Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. collapsed and only a few months into the Great Recession. - AP

NRC approves nuclear merger

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday said it had approved the proposed merger between Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy Group Inc., including the indirect transfer of operating licenses for five commercial nuclear-power plants and two installations that store spent fuel. The merger would result in Exelon indirectly owning 50.01 percent of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, jointly owned by Constellation and EDF Inc., a subsidiary of Electricité de France S.A. The company's nuclear-power plants are Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2 on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland; Nine Mile Point 1 and 2, near Oswego, N.Y.; and R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, near Rochester, N.Y. Exelon is the parent of Peco Energy Co., the Philadelphia utility. - Andrew Maykuth

30-year mortgage at record low

Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages remained at a record low 3.87 percent for the third consecutive week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. It was the 11th consecutive week of numbers below 4 percent. A year ago, the 30-year rate was 5 percent. The 15-year rate was 3.16 percent, the same as last week. A year ago, it was 4.27 percent. - Alan J. Heavens

Pfizer, Mylan settle patent suit

Pfizer Inc. and Mylan Inc. said Thursday that they had agreed to settle their patent-infringement lawsuit against the French drugmaker Sanofi over prefilled injections designed to treat severe allergic reactions. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Pfizer, which has major operations in the region, makes the EpiPen injection device, and Mylan markets it in the United States. The companies said Sanofi and its partner Intelliject infringed on their patents with their e-cue injection device. Sanofi and its the partner agreed they would not start selling the e-cue product before Nov. 15. - AP

Affordable housing hits record

Housing affordability in the United States rose to a record level during the fourth quarter of 2011, even though home buyers continued to feel the constraints of tighter credit standards and a soft economy. Data released Thursday by the National Association of Home Builders indicated that 75.9 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the fourth quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200. - Alan J. Heavens

Elsewhere

Oversight of debt collectors urged

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a regulation that would let it examine the books of debt collectors and consumer-reporting businesses as part of its program to supervise nonbank financial companies. Bureau director Richard Cordray said the rule meant that consumer-reporting agencies would be subject to the same oversight that applies to banks. The regulation, to be made final by July 21, would bring credit bureaus such as Experian P.L.C., Equifax Inc., and TransUnion Corp. under federal supervision for the first time. It would also extend to Fair Isaac Corp., the company that developed and maintains the algorithm used to calculate consumers' credit ratings, known as FICO scores. - Bloomberg News

Moody's may cut credit ratings

Credit ratings of UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Morgan Stanley may be cut by as many as three levels by Moody's Investors Service, which is reviewing 17 banks and securities firms with global markets operations. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. are among companies that may be downgraded by two levels, Moody's said, adding the "guidance is indicative only." Moody's cut some European insurers' ratings based on risks stemming from the region's sovereign-debt crisis. The potential downgrades put Moody's at odds with bond investors, who are sticking with bets that new capital rules and trading limits will make the firms safer in the long run. - Bloomberg News

Apple releases 'Lion' preview

Apple Inc. on Thursday released a developer preview of an update for the Mac operating system, dubbed "Mountain Lion," that will copy more features and apps from the iPhone and iPad to the Mac. The new software will be on sale this summer, a year after it released the latest update, "Lion." Mountain Lion will include Game Center, an iPhone app that stores high game scores and helps users find opponents. It will be integrated with iCloud. The new Messages app, also copied from the mobile system, will replace iChat. Lion users can download a preview version of the app for free. - AP

Mars cuts calories in candy

Mars Inc., the makers of popular candy brands including M&Ms and Twix, said Thursday that it would stop making chocolate products that exceed 250 calories by the end of next year. In an e-mailed statement, the company said it had shown a "broad-based commitment to health and nutrition" in recent years. In 2007, for example, the company said it would no longer market its chocolate directly to children under 12. - AP

Dow reaches deal in dioxin case

Michigan environmental regulators said Thursday that they had reached a long-sought deal with Dow Chemical Co. for cleaning up about 1,400 residential properties in Midland, where decades of airborne emissions from a Dow plant contaminated the soil with dioxin. Dow will submit details to the state for review next month. - AP