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Manufacturing levels in the Philadelphia area fell back to a near-flat level this month following a big jump in January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

U.S. retail sales were unchanged in January following a 1.2% gain in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

In addition to providing billions of dollars for congestion relief, the Department of Transportation’s $67 billion fiscal 2008 budget proposal included millions of dollars for commercial vehicle safety.

U.S. business inventories were unchanged in December, and business sales rose 1.4%, the biggest gain since May, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

In May 2000, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a number of proposed changes to the existing hours-of-service rules — rules which, until this point, had remained virtually unchanged for 60 years.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.4% in 2006, its first annual decline since 2001, DOT said Wednesday.

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Logistics firm Expeditors International of Washington on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profits fell to $62.6 million or 28 cents a share, down from $74.3 million or 34 cents a year ago.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) has proposed a new tax on oil companies to help raise needed funds for the state’s transportation projects, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record for a fifth straight year in 2006 as purchases of Chinese goods and imported oil overwhelmed an increase in exports, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.