Business in brief

By The Globe, 12/4/2001

Mortgage woes

As layoffs spread across the country, homeowners falling into foreclosure reached a record high and the percentage of Americans behind on mortgages rose to the highest level in 10 years, according to figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Lenders began foreclosure proceedings against 0.38 percent of homeowners in the third quarter, the highest level since the group began tracking the figure in 1972. And the percentage of loans with payments overdue at least 30 days rose to 4.87 percent in the period, approaching the 5.20 percent it reached in 1991 during the last recession, the group said. (Globe wire services)

MedImmune buy

Maryland-based MedImmune Inc. agreed to buy Aviron, of California, for about $1.3 billion in stock, adding Aviron's experimental FluMist nasal spray influenza vaccine to its line of drugs for infectious and autoimmune diseases. (Bloomberg)

Ford cutbacks

Ford Motor Co. said it will reduce retirement and health benefits for 45,000 white-collar workers and lay off 630 people to save about $300 million a year. Chairman and chief executive William Clay Ford Jr. said the cuts probably won't be the last. (AP)

Consumer spending

US consumer spending surged and construction rose in October, while manufacturing improved last month, indicating a rebound from the first recession since 1991. Spending rose a record 2.9 percent, Commerce Department figures showed. That was more than the 2.3 percent expected by a median of 37 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey. Construction spending rose 1.9 percent, Commerce said, contrary to expectations of a drop. (Bloomberg)

This story ran on page C2 of the Boston Globe on 12/4/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.