���ϳԹ���

Business inventories fell 0.6% in October, the largest decline in five years, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Retail sales fell 1.8% in November, the fifth consecutive month of decline, led by a continued drop in automobile and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The average retail price of U.S. diesel fuel dropped for the 10th consecutive week, the Department of Energy reported, but the gap between diesel and gasoline price reached the widest spread since the agency began publishing diesel prices in 1994.

Truck manufacturers and truck-stop chains said their customers would find adequate supplies of urea around the nation when new heavy-duty diesel engines that utilize selective catalytic conversion hit the road in 2010 models.

President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to sponsor the largest infrastructure-building program in more than 50 years has excited trucking officials, who also encouraged the new administration not to overlook the longer-term highway spending package due next year.

President-elect Barack Obama reportedly has settled on an experienced team to lead in environmental and energy policy areas, including two women reasonably well-known in trucking circles.

The Department of Transportation said highway deaths fell 10% for the first 10 months of 2008 and said it expects fatalities to be at an all-time low when the full year totals are calculated.

Prices paid to U.S. producers fell 2.2% in November, the Labor Department said Friday.

First-time unemployment claims rose to a 26-year high last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. lowered its 2008 sales and profit forecast, due to “significant declines” in demand.