DeLorme lays off 15 workers as mapping market shifts

DeLorme, the Yarmouth-based mapping firm, laid off 15 full-time employees Thursday – its first layoffs in about 10 years.

Spokesman Caleb Mason said the staff reductions were necessary as DeLorme strategically repositions itself to compete in the global marketplace. Mason said DeLorme was founded as a print-based map publisher, but the markets have shifted toward digital.

“We will have to grow in other areas,” said Mason, who did not rule out the possibility of hiring new employees this year.

All the laid-off workers were offered severance packages and job retraining, Mason said. DeLorme employs more than 100 workers.

Maine’s jobless rate stays at 7.5 percent for January

The Maine Department of Labor says the preliminary jobless rate for January was 7.5 percent, unchanged from the revised figure for December.

Officials say the figure dropped nearly 1 percentage point from a level of 8.4 percent a year ago. The total number of unemployed was 52,300, down 6,300 from a year ago.

The labor department says Maine’s unemployment rate was lower than the national average of 9 percent and the regional average of 8.2 percent. New England’s jobless rate ranged from 11.3 percent in Rhode Island to 5.6 percent in New Hampshire.

GM losing executive who helped company rebound

The chief financial officer who guided General Motors to its first profitable year since 2004 and led its successful return to the stock market is leaving after being passed over for the top job.

Chris Liddell will step down on April 1 after just 15 months at GM. He’ll be replaced by Treasurer Dan Ammann, a former Wall Street banker, the company said Thursday.

Liddell, 52, a former CFO at Microsoft Corp., was once considered a candidate to succeed Chief

Executive Ed Whitacre. But GM’s board instead picked current Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson when Whitacre made a surprise exit in August.

Hallmark increases revenues over the previous year

Hallmark Cards Inc., the nation’s largest greeting card seller, says its revenues were up in 2010.

The Kansas City-based company reported Thursday that its total worldwide revenue rose 3 percent in 2010 to $4.1 billion.

Hallmark, which is privately held and releases limited financial information, says the increase was in part spurred by sales of new products like its recordable storybooks.

J&J health unit agrees to fix causes of defective medicine

Federal officials said Thursday that the consumer health unit of Johnson & Johnson will be barred from resuming operations at a Pennsylvania  plant linked to millions of bottles of defective medicines until it meets quality standards.

The Food and Drug Administration said it signed a formal consent decree with the company to improve operations at three manufacturing sites linked to multiple recalls last year, including Children’s Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin.

The FDA said J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit violated the law in its production of medications and would be subject to fines of up to $10 million annually if it did not comply with the decree.

American Airlines raises fares to offset fuel costs

American Airlines is raising U.S. base fares $10 per round trip.

If the increase sticks, it would be the seventh broad price hike this year by U.S. airlines, which say they need more revenue to offset rising fuel prices.

Delta said it was studying an increase but had not matched American yet.

United, Continental, US Airways, JetBlue Airways and AirTran Airways said they had not raised prices.

– From staff and news service reports