Factories see rise in orders

        The nation's factories, hardest hit by last year's recession, saw orders for costly manufactured goods rising in April for a fifth straight month.

        The Commerce Department reported Thursday that orders for durable goods rose 1.1 percent, with demand especially strong for cars, communications equipment and machinery.

        Meanwhile, the number of new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in eight weeks, while the total number of Americans getting aid rose to the highest in 19 years.

        States received 416,000 initial jobless claims last week, down from 425,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.

        Since rising to a six-month high of 492,000 in March, claims haven't fallen below 400,000, a level that economists say would indicate an improving labor market.
       

Adelphia directors out

        The family that founded Adelphia Communications Corp. Thursday relinquished control of the troubled cable television provider and will turn over $1 billion in assets to cover its debts.

        Under the agreement, founder John Rigas and sons Timothy, Michael and James resigned as directors of the nation's sixth-largest cable provider, the Coudersport, Pa. company said. Mr. Rigas's son-in-law, Peter Venetis, has also been asked to resign from the board.

        Shares of Adelphia tumbled 54 percent as trading resumed for the first time in more than a week.
       

Layoffs at IBM plant

        In what is expected to begin of a spate of layoffs, 220 employees at IBM Corp.'s plant in Endicott, N.Y. were told Thursday that their jobs will be eliminated.

        The plant has 4,500 workers. An IBM employee at the plant, speaking on condition of anonymity, said company officials announced Thursday that 1,000 workers in IBM's server group will be cut, with about a quarter of the job cuts falling on Endicott.
       

Doughnuts earn dollars

        Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said Thursday its earnings soared 55 percent in the first quarter, narrowly beating Wall Street forecasts. The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company earned $8.9 million, or 15 cents a share, for the three months ended May 5, up from $5.7 million, or 10 cents a share, a year ago. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call was for earnings of 14 cents per share.
       

Yahoo out of auctions

        Yahoo! Inc. said it will stop offering Internet auctions in six of the largest European countries and promote rival EBay Inc.'s services instead as part of efforts to return to profitability. It will close auction sites in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Yahoo, which last month posted a wider first-quarter loss, had been scaling back the auction business by cutting jobs. EBay, the world's largest auctioneer over the Web, has been expanding in Europe with the acquisition of France's iBazar last year.

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