Business briefs

More jobless

The number of US workers filing for jobless benefits rose for the second straight week by 4,000, to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 in the week ended Aug. 18, a sign that the labor market remains uneven.

House happy

US housing prices rose 1.8 percent in the April-to-June period, compared with the first quarter of the year, the biggest quarterly jump since 2005.

HSBC in talks

HSBC Holdings Plc, under investigation by US regulators for laundering funds of sanctioned nations including Iran and Sudan, is in talks to settle the matter, according to two people with knowledge of the case.

Spam-a-lot

Hormel’s fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 13 percent to $111 million from $98 million a year ago, led by strong growth in products like Spam canned pork and Mexican salsas.

Fed bank$

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York booked a profit of about $6.6 billion from selling the second of two portfolios of “toxic” mortgage-related assets taken on during the 2008 bailout of AIG.