Few options exist for those laid off.

Employers raise deductibles, co-payments, premiums.

Dell is expected to post lower fiscal third-quarter earnings than a year ago on worldwide declines in information technology spending. Personal computer shipments from the computer maker missed analyst expectations for the quarter. To save cash, Dell

William J. Amelio's job as CEO of Lenovo, the world's fourth-largest computer maker, is getting tougher day by day.

The injury rate among North Carolina workers in private industry fell in 2007 to an all-time low, the state Labor Department said Wednesday.

North State Bank is saying, "No, thank you" to the U.S. Treasury.

Ziff Davis Media is ending print publication of its 27-year-old flagship PC Magazine and taking it online only, the latest of several magazine publishers to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing rises.

Toyota said Wednesday it will reduce production in the United States to cope with slowing sales in the world's largest economy.

Microsoft is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo, CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company was still open to a collaboration on Internet search.

Chemical company BASF SE is temporarily closing 80 plants worldwide due to slumping demand, and it is cutting production at 100 more. About 20,000 workers are affected.

Hagel:Holly Springs appears close to landing its first hotel.

Employers expect to keep cost increases for medical coverage to a relatively modest 6.4 percent next year, but only by continuing to shift more of the expense to employees.

Wachovia Corp. has paid investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. $77 million in fees since October 2006 for various advisory services and is set to pay another $25 million for advice involving the Charlotte bank's sale to Wells Fargo & Co.

The Treasury Department's frequent, scattershot revisions to the $700 billion financial bailout have shaken investor confidence, and experts say the confusion could delay the lending revival necessary for an economic recovery.

North Carolina should consider whether it would receive money from oil exploration off its coast and how it would balance an oil industry with its coastal tourism economy, speakers at a conference said today.