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U.S. consumer confidence fell this month from a two-year high in January, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

New housing starts plunged 14.3% in January to their lowest level in 10 years, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported Friday it lost $358 million in the fourth quarter due to a strike at 16 of its plants that reduced sales.

The producer price index fell 0.6% in January, but the “core” rate rose, the Labor Department reported Friday.

A thick layer of ice kept parts of major highways closed in Pennsylvania Friday morning, a day after hundreds of drivers became stranded on a hilly stretch of Interstate 78 that was hit by this week’s big snow and ice storm, the Associated Press reported.

Truckload carrier Schneider National said Thursday it received a business license from the Chinese government to begin trucking and logistics operations in that country.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Feb. 19, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

Rail intermodal traffic rose 1.1% last week, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.

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.

Diesel engine manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. plans to repurchase $7.5 billion of its stock in the five years, its fourth buyback since 1995, the company said Thursday.