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Initial jobless claims rose last week while the number of people receiving continuing claims set a record for the 15th straight week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Slower payment of invoices and “extended receivables” is a troubling business trend of late. Slow pay restricts cash flow and could put carriers out of business — even those with otherwise excellent operations. Focused on their core business of moving freight, carriers sometimes overlook key opportunities in the critical business process that follows successful delivery.

Express-1 Expedited Solutions said its first-quarter profit plunged to $5,000, from $643,000 a year ago.

Velocity Express Corp. reported it lost $13.7 million, or $3.73 a share, in its fiscal third quarter, compared with a loss of $10.6 million, or $3.78, a year earlier.

WebTech Wireless, a supplier of GPS location-based and fleet telematics services, reported a profit of $115,000, or zero cents per share for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $1.95 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Canadian customs broker and logistics firm Livingston International Income Fund posted a loss of C$17.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, or 64 cents per unit, compared with a profit of C$8.2 million, or 30 cents, the year before.

Retail sales fell 0.4% in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The price of goods imported to the United States rose for a second straight month in April as oil prices increased, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

American Trucking Associations said Wednesday it celebrating National Transportation Week by bringing trucking industry outreach programs to public events around the country.