Business briefs for May 6

WestShore Plaza mall adding new retailers

WestShore Plaza officials named several new retailers that will move into the mall through this year.

Republic of Couture will open near Macy's, its first Tampa Bay area location, selling brands such as Diesel, Monarch and True Religion.

Australian-based Cotton On will open this summer next to Old Navy, part of a U.S. expansion that will also include locations in Tyrone Square in St. Petersburg and Westfield Brandon mall. The company's casual and less-expensive style is reminiscent of Gap and Urban Outfitters.

Papaya will open in the fall next to the mall's food court, with junior- and petite-size clothing for women.

Local demand for hotel rooms rebounds

Hillsborough County hoteliers enjoyed a business rebound in March as demand for rooms increased 9.2 percent, to 540,006, compared with a year ago, and revenue increased 15.2 percent to $55.7 million, according to a report from Smith Travel Research Inc.

The improving economy allowed hoteliers to boost rates. The average daily rate for March — the price per room of those sold — rose 5.5 percent to $103.

Florida room demand increased 9.1 percent in March compared with a year ago, while U.S. room demand increased 7.1 percent.

Crafts chain Michael's warns of data breach

Michael's Stores Inc. says its customers' credit and debit card information may have been compromised.

The Irving, Texas-based arts and crafts supplier says PIN-pad tampering appears to have happened in its Chicago-area stores. Banking and law-enforcement officials contacted the company this week after fraudulent transactions were reported last weekend.

If someone thinks their account information was compromised, they should contact their credit issuer.

Price of oil plunges below $100 a barrel

Oil dropped nearly 9 percent to settle below $100 a barrel. Mounting concerns about the U.S. economy triggered the biggest one-day percentage decline in more than two years.

Thursday's decline of $9.44 per barrel, or 8.6 percent, brings the week's loss for oil to $14.13, or 12.4 percent.

Oil rose 35 percent from mid-February through the end of April. As it climbed above $100, economists warned that high fuel prices were taking a toll on the U.S. economy. Gasoline demand fell as motorists paid more at the pump, a trend reinforced by industry and government studies released this week. On Thursday, worries about the job market ahead of today's key employment report added to concerns about demand.

Jobless claims climb to eight-month high

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits surged last week to the highest level in eight months, a troubling sign a day ahead of the government's report on April employment.

The Labor Department said Thursday that applications rose by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000 last week. But that was largely the result of unusual factors, including a high number of school systems in New York that closed for spring break, the department said.

Still, it marked the third increase in four weeks. Applications have jumped 89,000, or 23 percent, in the past month. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose for the fourth straight week to 431,250.

General Motors recalling 150,000 Chevrolet Cruzes

General Motors is recalling about 150,000 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedans to verify their steering shafts were installed properly.

The automaker said Wednesday that it wants to inspect the intermediate steering shaft covers in Cruze models to make sure they were properly installed. The cars were built in Lordstown, Ohio, and sold in the U.S. and Canada. About 120,000 of the recalled vehicles with automatic transmission will also be checked for proper installation of the transmission shift linkage.

The Cruze has been a hot seller for GM. In April, it sold more than 25,000, up 84 percent from its predecessor, the Cobalt, in April 2010.

Retailers say shoppers returned in April

Retail revenue surged in April, helped by a late Easter holiday. The gains build on a trend that began late last year, but higher gas prices threaten to cut into consumers' spending power.

Overall, revenue at major retailers was 8.5 percent higher than last April, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers' tally of 28 retailers' results. That was better than the 5 to 6 percent increase projected by the trade group's chief economist, Mike Niemira.

The figures are based on revenue at stores open at least a year.

Worker productivity rose in first quarter

U.S. companies squeezed more work out of their staffs in the first three months of the year, but the gain in productivity was much slower than in the previous three months.

Productivity rose at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the January-March period compared with a 2.9 percent increase in the previous quarter, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Labor costs rose at a 1 percent annual rate in the January-March period after falling 1 percent in the previous three months.

A slowdown in productivity growth is bad for the economy if it persists for a long period. But it can be good in the short term when unemployment is high because companies must hire more workers to make further gains.

European banker signals steady interest rates

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled Thursday that the bank will wait until after June to raise interest rates again, wrong-footing some investors who had expected a quicker move to fight surging inflation.

"We are never pre-committed and we can increase rates whenever we judge it appropriate," Trichet said at a news conference in Helsinki after the ECB left its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 percent.

He refrained from using the phrase "strong vigilance" that would have signaled a June rate increase, saying only that the ECB will monitor inflation risks "very closely."

Policymakers may want more time to assess the health of the euro-area economy before adding to April's monetary tightening, which was the first in almost three years.

From staff and wire reports