THE U.S. ECONOMY grew at a minuscule annual rate of 0.6 percent from April through June, the worst performance since the end of the last recession nearly four years ago.
HOME CONSTRUCTION edged up 0.4 percent in August, the first increase since April.
THE NATION`S industries used 79 percent of their total capacity in August, down 0.10 from July.
NEW-CAR SALES by domestic automakers soared in early September to 36.9 percent above the year-earlier period, boosted by financing rates of less than 3 percent.
AMERICANS` PERSONAL incomes climbed 0.4 percent in August, the best gain since April, while their spending shot up an even faster 1.1 percent, the strongest performance since December.
MANUFACTURERS` AFTER-TAX profits rose to an average of 4.7 percent of sales in the second quarter, from 3.5 percent in the first quarter and 4 percent in the second quarter a year earlier.
COMMERCE SECRETARY Malcolm Baldrige said an investigation determined there had been no leaks of sensitive economic data, despite rumors of such leaks in recent weeks.
INTERNATIONAL
COCA-COCA CO. announced that it plans to sell its remaining interests in South Africa to black and white investors.
AUSTRALIAN INVESTOR Robert Holmes A Court won a seat on the board of Broken Hill Proprietary Co., Australia`s largest company, which he has been trying to take over for several years.
CHICAGO/MIDWEST
ILLINOIS INVESTORS could lose more than $24 million because of the collapse of A.J. Obie & Associates Inc. and Diamond Mortgage Corp., a state official said.
M.L. ROTHSCHILD & Co. won a court order that will enable it to remove a minimum of $6.8 million in goods from Wieboldt Stores Inc., merchandise which Rothschild said it owns.
HONEYWELL INC. announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs by the end of the year. The firm blamed a slow economy for the cuts.
JOHN E. SWEARINGEN, chairman of Continental Illinois Corp., termed objections to Continental`s plans to buy three suburban banks ”bunk” and said the acquisitions are needed to aid Continental`s comeback from earlier problems.
TIME INC. SAID its book and magazine subscription operations in Chicago will be moved to the South during the next two years, a shift that will affect 1,450 employees here and result in a $50 million pretax charge against third- quarter earnings.
CATERPILLAR INC. said it is delaying production plans for its rubber-tracked Challenger farm tractor until next year, allowing more time for testing and evaluation.
EDWARD J. FILIATRAULT, executive vice president of Northern Illinois Gas Co., was elected chairman of the board of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce for the coming year.
DOW CHEMICAL CO. said it would join with Consumers Power Co. to convert a troubled nuclear power plant at Midland, Mich., to natural gas.
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. said it agreed to sell its Chicago-based subsidiary, North American Co. for Life and Health Insurance, to an investor group headed by Harold S. Geneen, the former chairman of ITT Corp.
THE CHICAGO BOARD Options Exchange said it agreed in principle to affiliate with the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, to give its members stock trading capability.
CORPORATE
THE STOCK OF USX Corp. rose in heavy trading, amid reports that some of Wall Street`s leading takeover artists had purchased major stakes in the huge steel and energy company. Investors T. Boone Pickens, Carl Icahn and Irwin Jacobs were among names mentioned.
THE TRANSPORTATION Department approved Texas Air`s $676 million acquisition of Eastern Airlines, and said the two carriers` revised proposal clears up concerns about competition in the Northeast corridor.
FORD MOTOR CO. said it is scheduling a 17 percent increase in car production during the fourth quarter because of heavy demand.
MOTOROLA INC. said it will manufacture a computer chip that packs 300,000 transistors into a sliver of silicon the size of a fingernail.
TRANSPORTATION GIANT Union Pacific Corp. said it will buy Overnite Transportation Co., a rapidly expanding trucking firm, for $1.2 billion.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON Co. was told by a federal judge that a subsidiary must pay the $100 million cost of a Tylenol recall that took place in 1982 after seven people died from cyanide poisoning.
K MART CORP., the nation`s second largest retailer, said it will add 150 discount stores and more than 800 specialty stores during the next five years. A UNIT OF VMS Realty Partners of Chicago said it sold the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Hotel in Honolulu to a Japanese firm for $245 million.
MARKETS
STOCKS: The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 3.93 points for the week, closing at 1762.65. The New York Stock Exchange index gained 0.68 points, to 133.49, while the American Stock Exchange index finished up 1.88 at 259.12. The Nasdaq index of over-the-counter stocks closed up 2.71 points at 349.49. Composite volume of NYSE-listed stocks for the week was 844.7 million shares, down from 1.059 billion the previous week.
BONDS: The Dow Jones bond index was down 0.61 for the week at 90.73.
COMMODITIES: The Dow Jones index of commodity futures was up 4.12 points for the week at 127.98, while the spot index was up 2.63 at 124.92.
