Business news in brief

Walmart tests letting workers don jeans

Walmart sells more bluejeans than anyone, but its in-store employees couldn't wear them while on the clock -- until now.

The nation's biggest private employer is testing new dress codes in a small number of U.S. stores, hoping that more relaxed standards could help it attract and retain employees in a tight labor market.

Employees in some of Walmart Inc.'s 4,700 stores will now be allowed to wear shirts of any solid color, rather than just blue or white, according to an employee manual obtained by Bloomberg News. Bluejeans also are permitted -- as long as they're solid blue -- whereas previously only khaki-colored or black denim pants were allowed. Visible facial tattoos are forbidden for those hired after April 14, the manual said.

The proposed changes are the latest employee-friendly step Walmart has taken in recent months as its battles other retailers to recruit and retain cashiers and shelf stockers. In February, it raised its starting hourly wage and handed out bonuses. It has also expanded its parental-leave policy and added an adoption benefit. The moves come as the nation's unemployment rate has plummeted to 4.1 percent from 5.7 percent in 2015.

-- Bloomberg News

Mississippi bank extends expansion west

TUPELO, Miss. -- A Mississippi bank will pay $146 million in stock and cash to buy a Texas bank.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo announced Thursday that it would buy Icon Capital Corp, whose Icon Bank has seven offices and $794 million in assets in the Houston area.

BancorpSouth will pay stock valued at $128.3 million, plus $17.5 million in cash. The move will more than double BancorpSouth's presence in Houston, continuing its westward expansion after it purchased another Texas bank and one in Louisiana late last year.

BancorpSouth tells investors that the merger gives it better access to the fast-growing Houston market.

-- The Associated Press

Ban on oil drilling in N.J. waters now law

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. -- On the anniversary of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest marine oil spill in the petroleum industry, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Friday prohibiting oil and natural-gas drilling in state waters, as well as preventing infrastructure like pipelines that could support drilling in more distant federal waters.

It is one of numerous coastal states using state-level laws to try to thwart President Donald Trump's proposal to allow drilling in federal waters more than 3 miles offshore along most of America's coastline.

States including New Jersey, New York, California, South Carolina and Rhode Island have introduced similar bills, Washington state is considering one, and Maryland introduced a bill imposing liability on anyone who causes a spill.

-- The Associated Press

GE said to be in sales talks for rail unit

General Electric Co., the beleaguered manufacturer undergoing a strategic review, is in talks to sell its century-old locomotive business to rail-equipment maker Wabtec Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

GE is considering combining its rail division with Wabtec, which has a market valuation of $8 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because talks are private. The transportation unit could be worth as much as $6.8 billion in a sale, Julian Mitchell, an analyst at Barclays, wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Representatives for GE and Wilmerding, Pa.-based Wabtec declined to comment.

-- Bloomberg News

China's ZTE protests U.S.' tech policy

BEIJING -- ZTE Corp., one of China's biggest tech companies, warned Friday that a ban on access to U.S. technology threatens its survival and said the company is looking for a legal solution.

State-owned ZTE "may enter a state of shock," which will hurt its employees and U.S. suppliers, its chairman said, according to Chinese news reports. A separate company statement said the ban "threatens ZTE's existence."

The ban was imposed Monday in a case involving exports of telecoms equipment to Iran and North Korea. U.S. companies are barred from selling technology to ZTE for seven years.

-- The Associated Press

Drugmakers spend $9.9M on lobbying

The main trade group for U.S. drug manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies set a record for lobbying spending in the first three months of 2018 as they face pressure from President Donald Trump and lawmakers on drug pricing, generic medicine and trade.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent $9.96 million on federal lobbying, according to a disclosure filed Friday. The group increased its spending nearly $2 million from the same period in 2017, when it also set a quarterly high. Lobbying spending was reported twice a year until 2008.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to bring down soaring drug prices -- he said companies are "getting away with murder" -- and has given his administration the task of finding ways to do it.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 04/21/2018

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