Factory output increase helps push stocks higher

U.S. stocks had a big January, and they’re starting February strong, too.

Stocks climbed Wednesday after strong manufacturing data and encouraging reports about the Greek debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average closed within 100 points of its post-2008 financial crisis peak.

Factories raised output in January by the most in seven months, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index. And the Commerce Department said construction spending rose 1.5 percent in December, the fifth straight monthly gain.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 83.55 points to close at 12,716.46. The Dow’s highest close since 2008 is 12,810, in April 2011.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11.68 points to close at 1,324.09. The Nasdaq rose 34.43 points to 2,848.27.

On Tuesday, stocks wrapped up their best January in 15 years.

Farm-work limits for kids will allow more exemptions

WASHINGTON – Under pressure from farm groups, the Labor Department has agreed to modify a plan intended to keep children away from some of the most dangerous farm jobs.

The proposal now will include broader exemptions for children whose parents are part owners or operators of farms, or have a substantial interest in a farm partnership or corporation, officials said Wednesday.

The rules would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment and prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.

Farm groups had complained that the initial rules – proposed last year – would upset traditions where children often work alongside their parents and relatives to learn how a farm operates.

The rule’s original language exempted youths only on farms wholly owned or operated by their parents.

American Airlines plans to cut work force, benefits

DALLAS – The parent of American Airlines wants to eliminate about 13,000 jobs – 15 percent of its work force – as the nation’s third-biggest airline remakes itself under bankruptcy protection.

The company proposes to end its traditional pension plans, a move strongly opposed by the airline’s unions and the U.S. pension-insurance agency, and to stop paying for retiree health benefits.

AMR Corp. said Wednesday that it must cut labor costs by 20 percent. It will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions, but the president of the flight attendants’ union quickly rejected the company’s ideas as unacceptably harsh.

CEO Thomas W. Horton said Wednesday that the company hopes to return to profitability by cutting spending by more than $2 billion per year and raising revenue by $1 billion per year.

AMR lost $884 million in the first nine months of 2011, and on Tuesday it disclosed a $904 million loss for December alone. It has lost more than $11 billion since 2001.

– From news service reports