LOCAL

NEW DAILY NEWS EDITOR NAMED

Michael Cooke, editor in chief at the Chicago Sun-Times, has been named chief editor of the New York Daily News. Mr. Cooke, the top editor at the Sun-Times for the last five years, will take the helm of the Daily News starting in February, News publisher Mortimer Zuckerman said yesterday in a statement. “I am delighted that Michael has decided to join the winning team we are assembling at the Daily News,” Mr. Zuckerman said. “His skill and enthusiasm are well known throughout the industry.” Mr. Cooke will fill a job left open when Edward Kosner retired from the Daily News in October 2003. Mr. Cooke, 51, began his career at a weekly newspaper in England before moving to Canada, where he joined the Toronto Star as a copy editor in 1974.After being appointed assistant city editor, he moved to the Montreal Gazette, where he became managing editor. He’s also worked at the Edmonton Journal in Alberta and as editor in chief at the Vancouver tabloid The Province. In 1998, Mr. Cooke was a founding editor of Canada’s new national newspaper, the National Post, while serving as the last editor in chief of the Financial Post, supervising its merger with the national paper, the statement said.

– Associated Press

ECONOMY

JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMPED LAST WEEK

The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits shot up last week, highlighting the sometimes uneven nature of the recovery taking place in the labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance jumped by a seasonally adjusted 43,000, to 364,000, the highest level since late September. The over-the-week increase of 43,000 was the most since the end of March 2002. The latest snapshot of the labor market activity surprised economists. They were forecasting claims to rise last week to around 331,000. However, on a more positive note, the number of claims that had been filed in the previous week turned out to have fallen by 10,000, according to revised figures. That drop was twice as big as initially reported. “Even though we are in an expansion phase, the jobless claims statistics continue to come in very choppy,” said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research. Labor Department analysts cautioned that jobless claims figures around the holidays can swing widely from week to week.

– Associated Press

INTERNATIONAL

SHRIMP FARMERS WIN FIGHT FOR TARIFFS ON SIX NATIONS

America will impose tariffs on $2.7 billion of shrimp from Thailand, Brazil, and four other nations after the American International Trade Commission ruled the American seafood industry has been harmed by a surge in imports. The 6-0 vote yesterday is the fourth and final ruling in a yearlong effort by American shrimpers and processors to get tariffs imposed on shrimp they say is imported at below-market prices. China, Brazil, Ecuador, India, Thailand, and Vietnam will be subject to average duties of 17% starting this month. The trade commission had delayed the final votes today for about four hours so members would have a chance to discuss how the December 26 tsunami that devastated coastlines in Southeast Asia had affected the fishing industry. Thailand, the largest exporter of shrimp to America, and India, were two of the hardest-hit countries in the tsunami, and governments there have yet to provide details on the damage to their industries. The tariffs apply only to frozen shrimp, which account for more than 99% of imports, as the trade panel voted 4-2 against claims of damage from canned shrimp. The independent panel agreed to review its decisions in later months to take into account the effect of the tsunami on Thailand and India. The United Nations said yesterday the combined aquaculture damage to Thailand and India is more than $40 million.

– Bloomberg News