Rate on 30-year mortgage holds at 3.53 percent

WASHINGTON >> The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was unchanged for a second week, remaining near historic lows. The average rate on the 15-year mortgage also stayed the same. Low mortgage rates are helping to strengthen the housing recovery.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year low stayed at 3.53 percent. That’s near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on records going back to 1971.

The rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage stayed at 2.77 percent for a second week. The record low is 2.63 percent.

The one-year adjustable mortgage was the only rate to change this week. It averaged 2.61 percent, up from 2.53 percent last week.

Sunetric to seek sales staff at job fair

Sunetric has scheduled a job fair Saturday at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki to hire sales staff for its solar panel installation business. Although a solar sales background is preferred, it is not required, according to a news release from the company. Sunetric said there are some members of its sales staff that earn as much as $300,000 a year.

Applicants are asked to check Sunetric’s website at www.sunetric.com/sell to complete an online application before attending the event, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Hawaii Male Medical Clinic changes name

Hawaii Male Medical Clinic, which specializes in men’s sexual health, has changed its name to Universal Men’s Clinic as it expands to the mainland.

The clinic is scouting three locations in Washington state, the first being in Seattle, where it opened Jan. 8. The company plans to eventually expand to the neighbor islands to meet a growing demand for its services.

Since opening in October 2011, the Hono­lulu-based clinic has treated more than 2,500 patients for conditions such as erectile dysfunction and andropause, or low testosterone.

Drop in jobless claims brightens outlook

WASHINGTON » The outlook for the U.S. job market is brightening after a government report showed a sharp drop in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits. Weekly applications fell 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Outside a few weeks last month affected by seasonal distortions, that’s the lowest level in nearly five years.

The four-week average, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, stayed near a five-year low.

Germany worsens Eurozone recession

BERLIN » It was only a matter of time. With many of its debt-ridden euro partners in recession, Germany could swim against the tide for only so long.

Figures Thursday showed that output in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, contracted by more than anticipated in the last three months of 2012. The German drop lay behind a deepening recession across the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said the eurozone’s economic output shrank by 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from the previous three-month period. The decline was bigger than the 0.4 percent drop expected in markets and the steepest fall since 2009, when the global economy was in its deepest recession since World War II.

IRS website overrun by refund queries

WASHINGTON » The Internal Revenue Service has a message for taxpayers eager to learn the status of their tax refund: Please don’t check the IRS website every five minutes — once a day is enough.

The IRS says its "Where’s my refund?" website and smartphone app are being overwhelmed by anxious taxpayers. The agency says its systems are updated only once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available on the website, the IRS2go smartphone app and IRS toll-free phone lines.

To avoid delays, the agency says the best time to check on refunds is evenings and weekends.

GM turns profit despite losses in Europe

DETROIT » General Motors has strung together a tidy three-year run of profits by making big dollars in its backyard. Now the question is whether its U.S. operations can keep making enough to carry the company and cover widening losses in Europe.

General Motors Co. on Thursday posted a profit of $4.9 billion for 2012, down 36 percent from a year earlier, when it made $7.6 billion. Its net income fell because of European losses and a truckload of one-time accounting gains and losses in both years. Last year’s pretax profit, which excludes the one-time items, still fell, but only by 5 percent to $7.9 billion. Revenue for the year rose 1 percent to $152.3 billion.

PepsiCo results top Wall Street forecasts

NEW YORK » PepsiCo’s net income rose 17 percent in the fourth quarter as it raised prices and sold more of its snacks and drinks around the world. The company’s earnings and revenue beat analysts’ estimates. It also provided an annual earnings outlook in line with Wall Street expectations and raised its quarterly dividend by 5.6 percent.

The results mark the end of what CEO Indra Nooyi said would be a "transitional year," with the company embarking on a cost-cutting program and stepping up investment in its flagship brands. PepsiCo’s brands include Frito-Lay, Gatorade and Quaker.

 ON THE MOVE

The Cooke Foundation has announced:

» Samuel A. Cooke has retired. He was a trustee for the foundation for nearly 40 years as well as its president for 27 years.

» Dale S. Bachman has been elected as the board’s new president. She has more than 20 years of experience with the Cooke Foundation and is a former board member of the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

» Catherine Cooke has been elected as trustee. She is a vice president at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and has been an alternate trustee for the foundation since 1997.

» The following former Cooke Foundation trustees were appointed as trustees emeritus: Samuel A. Cooke, Anna D. Blackwell and Elizabeth P. Dunford.

» Newly appointed alternate trustees are Alison Baclig, Edith Cooke, Bob Cowell, Boyd D. Bond, Juliet Matsu­mura and Sage and Tyler Spalding.