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Business news in brief

Posted: January 20, 2013

In the Region

Jobless rate up in Pa.

The U.S. Labor Department said civilian unemployment in Pennsylvania ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent in December, compared with November. In New Jersey the number fell by the same fraction, to 9.6 percent for the same period. The rates are seasonally adjusted. The national unemployment rate in December was 7.8 percent. In regional numbers, the Mid-Atlantic held steady at 8.4 percent unemployment. - Reid Kanaley

Lawyers feud over fees

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s settlement of Avandia drug cases triggered a challenge by nine law firms that object to a bid by lead attorneys for almost three-quarters of a $143 million fee fund, including one seeking about $2,700 per hour, according to two people familiar with the matter. Attorneys suing on behalf of users of the diabetes medicine, who said it caused heart attacks and strokes, filed objections to the fee request in federal court in Philadelphia, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn't public. - Bloomberg News

Acquisition by Triumph

Aircraft parts maker Triumph Group Inc., of Berwyn, said it agreed to acquire Goodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems from United Technologies Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Triumph said the acquisition will add 530 employees and about $195 million in annual revenue. - Reid Kanaley

Elsewhere

HSBC to pay $249M

British bank HSBC will pay $249 million to settle federal complaints that its U.S. division wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The agreement with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is similar to deals with 12 other banks that ended a review of loan files required under a 2011 federal action. Combined, the 13 banks will pay $9.3 billion. - AP

Experts eye 787 batteries

It's likely that fires on two Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners were caused by overcharged lithium ion batteries, aviation safety and battery experts said, pointing to developments in the investigation of the Boeing incidents as well as a battery fire in a business jet more than a year ago. An investigator in Japan, where a 787 made an emergency landing earlier this week, said the charred insides of the plane's lithium ion battery show the battery received voltage in excess of its design limits. - AP