NEW YORK (AP) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. is dropping a clause from its credit card contracts that required disputes with customers to be handled through binding arbitration.

The move opens the door for customers to potentially bring class-action and other lawsuits.

A spokesman for the New York-based bank's Chase Card S...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California's unemployment rate rose to 12.5 percent in October to set another modern record, even though more than 25,000 Californians found jobs, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

October's job gains followed 66,000 job losses the month before.

Stephen Levy, senior econom...

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Global Defense Technology & Systems shares were little changed after its initial public offering priced below expectations.

The McLean, Va., defense contractor sold 3 million shares and selling stockholders sold 1.6 million shares for $13 each, raising $59.8 million. Underwriters had expected the sh...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown said as many as 30 Southern California churches may have been defrauded,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators are calling on General Motors and Chrysler to release more details on ongoing talks over the automakers' plans to close thousands of auto dealerships as part of their bankruptcies.

In letters Friday to the two companies, the majority of the Senate Commerce Committee sought information on th...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Holiday travelers waited a little longer to book their flights this year, likely holding out for better deals and waiting to see if they would still have a job. And some aren't going at all.

Travelocity reports that the average advance purchase fell to 55 days for Thanksgiving travel this year. That...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky appeals court upheld a $6.1 million award to a former fast food worker who was forced to strip in a McDonald's restaurant office after someone called posing as a police officer.

The appellate court on Friday ruled that Illinois-based McDonald's Corp., knew about a series of hoax calls to ...

ATLANTA (AP) - UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, is hiking 2010 rates for ground packages by an average of 4.9 percent.

The company, based in Atlanta, said Friday there also will be an average net rate increase of 4.9 percent next year on all air express and U.S. origin international shipments.

The r...

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. (AP) - Becton Dickinson and Co. said Friday it bought molecular diagnostic test maker HandyLab Inc. for $275 million.

The company first announced the acquisition in October.

The company has said it would run tests for infections such as MRSA on a diagnostic test platform made by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Hand...

(AP) - WASHINGTON _ National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for September, 10 a.m.

WASHINGTON _ Ken Feinberg, Special Master for Executive Compensation, at the National Press Club at noon.

CAMDEN, N.J. _ Campbell Soup Co. releases first-quarter financial results.

PALO ALTO, Calif. _ H...