• FINANCIAL & BUSINESS NEWS

Last Update on January 05, 2009 13:46 EST

Construction spending drops less than expected

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says construction spending was down in November, but not as much as feared.

Record activity on nonresidential projects helped to offset a steep decline in housing.

The Commerce Department reported a decline of 0.6 percent. The 4.2 percent drop in housing construction was partially offset by the surprisingly strong 0.7 rise in nonresidential activity. Government spending rose 1.4 percent.

Economists expect declines ahead as the prolonged recession cuts demand for new shopping centers and office buildings, and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s makes it harder for builders to get financing.

Jobs cites hormonal imbalance

NEW YORK (AP) -- Apple founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs says he's been losing weight because of a hormonal imbalance.

Looking to quell rumors about his health, Jobs released a public letter about his condition today. He says doctors conducted "sophisticated blood tests" that confirmed the diagnosis.

Jobs says the imbalance has been "robbing" his body of the proteins it needs to be healthy.

Jobs survived pancreatic cancer, but has appeared increasingly gaunt at public appearances. Speculation about his health intensified last month when Apple said Jobs would not be making his annual keynote address at the Macworld conference tomorrow in San Francisco. Apple also says this year's conference will be the last.

Jobs says the remedy for what he describes as a nutritional problem is "relatively simple" and he's already begun treatment. He says his doctors expect it will take a several month for him to regain weight.

NY Times debuts front-page ad

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Times, facing falling ad revenue like other newspapers, has become the latest paper to run display advertising on its front page.

The Times already has been selling such ads on the front pages of its business and other sections since 2006, and it has run tiny classified text ads on the front of its main section before. Graphical advertising, also known as display ads, on the main front can command even greater prices, given the visibility.

Front-page ads were quite common a century or more ago, but they gradually got banished to inside pages as editors pushed to further separate news items from advertising.

Gannett's USA Today was one of the first modern papers to carry front-page advertising, starting in 1999. Such ads now run regularly in News Corp.'s The Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune, which is also owned by The New York Times Co. The Washington Post is among the holdouts.

Citgo pulls out of low-income heating oil program

BOSTON (AP) -- Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph Kennedy says Citgo has suspended its free heating oil program for low-income residents.

Kennedy says the Venezuelan government's Texas-based oil subsidiary cited falling oil prices and the world economic crisis for forcing the company to reevaluate all of its social programs.

The oil program has provided hundreds of thousands of low-income U.S. households with fuel assistance.

Kennedy urged those who have been helped by the program to write Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to share their stories.

Citgo began the national program in 2005 with Boston-based Citizens Energy, a nonprofit run by Kennedy.