In the Region

TMI license renewed for 20 years

Three Mile Island's Unit 1 nuclear plant near Harrisburg can continue producing electricity until 2034, or 20 years longer than its current license allows, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled. The agency found that plant owner Exelon Corp., which also owns Peco Energy Co. in Philadelphia, has the safety programs in place to continue managing the plant, which generates 852 megawatts of electricity, or enough power for 800,000 homes. In 1979, TMI's Unit 2 was the scene of the nation's worst nuclear-power-plant accident. - AP

Dow Chemical profit up, sales down

Dow Chemical Co. said third-quarter revenue fell 22 percent to $12 billion, and it warned that it was not counting on better conditions through 2010. The Midland, Mich., company, which bought Rohm & Haas Co. of Philadelphia this year, is selling assets and slashing costs, which allowed it to increase net income. Profit grew to $711 million, or 63 cents a share, from $428 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. The company makes the basic ingredients for everything from toys to cars. - AP

Unisys wins California IT contract

Unisys Corp. said it was awarded a five-year, $20 million contract to provide information technology to the city of Santa Clara, Calif. The Blue Bell company also will help Santa Clara modernize Web applications to make it easier for people to do business with the city. - Stacey Burling

Merck posts big Q3 profit jump

Drugmaker Merck & Co. Inc., which employs 12,000 in the Philadelphia area, posted a bigger profit in the third quarter because of slightly higher sales and a huge gain from selling a business. The maker of cholesterol drugs, vaccines, and asthma and allergy treatment Singulair said net income was $3.42 billion, more than triple a year earlier. That is mostly because Merck, of Whitehouse Station, N.J., had to sell its half of the Merial animal-health business so it could buy Schering-Plough Corp. - AP

Hershey Q3 profit up 30%

Hershey Co., the nation's largest candy-maker, said third-quarter profit rose 30 percent, helped by price increases and lower restructuring costs. That beat Wall Street's view, but the company said it might offer discounts because revenue dipped slightly. The Hershey, Pa., firm said it earned $162 million, or 71 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 3, up from $124.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier. - AP

Lockheed cuts northeastern Pa. staff

Lockheed Martin Corp. said it was eliminating 50 jobs out of 550 at its plant in Archbald, Lackawanna County, effective next Friday. A spokeswoman said that consists of 39 layoffs and 11 early-retirement buyouts needed to stay competitive. Employees at the plant assemble laser-guided kits for so-called smart bombs. The firm has about 13,000 employees in the Philadelphia area. - AP

Elsewhere

New consumer agency gets backing

The House Financial Services Committee voted, 39-29, to create a federal agency devoted to protecting consumers from predatory lending, abusive overdraft fees, and unfair rate increases. The measure still faces scrutiny by the full House and Senate. The financial-services industry contends the new agency would have dangerously broad reach. - AP

FCC plans rules to keep Internet open

The Federal Communications Commission took a key step toward prohibiting broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain kinds of Internet traffic. The agency voted to begin writing so-called "network neutrality" regulations, which proponents say would prevent phone and cable companies from abusing their control over the market for broadband access. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the rules were needed to ensure that high-speed Internet subscribers could access all legal Web sites and services. - AP

Defaults on credit cards drop

U.S. credit card defaults fell in September from a record high in August as five of the nation's six biggest card lenders posted monthly declines, Moody's Investors Service said. Annualized write-offs dropped to 10.72 percent of all loans from 11.49 percent in August, Moody's said. But loans at least 30 days delinquent, a signal of future losses, rose to 5.97 percent from 5.8 percent. - Bloomberg News

Amazon profit beats expectations

Amazon.com Inc. said its third-quarter profit soared 62 percent from the same period a year earlier, showing that consumers are comfortable opening their wallets to the online retailer despite the still-shaky economy. Amazon said it earned $199 million, or 45 cents a share in the third quarter. This exceeded the 30 cents a share that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting. Revenue rose 20 percent to $5.45 billion. - AP

New jobless-claims rise tops forecast

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing claims for jobless benefits increased by 11,000 last week to 531,000, the Labor Department said. The increase was more than forecasters had expected, as employers remain reluctant to hire even with the economy showing signs of recovery. Claims had fallen in five out of the previous six weeks, and most economists expect that trend to continue. - AP

Conference Board index up again

A private forecast of economic activity rose for the sixth straight month in September, a sign the economy may keep growing early next year despite rising unemployment. The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 1 percent last month after a 0.4 percent gain in August, beating economists' expectations. The group said that the indicators' 5.7 growth rate in the six months through September was the strongest since 1983, but that joblessness was weighing on the rebound. - AP

Microsoft launches Windows 7

Microsoft Corp. put its Windows 7 operating system on sale, hoping for a fresh start after a bad reception for the previous version of the software that runs most of the world's personal computers. Windows 7 is on new computers and is a software upgrade for some older PCs starting at $120. Windows 7 promises to boot up faster, reduce the clicks needed for common tasks, and have fewer pop-up boxes. - AP