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European truck makers would have to cut urban air pollution in the European Union as much as 80% under new draft EU rules that would move Europe closer to U.S. standards, Bloomberg reported Friday.

President Bush defended the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reject California’s plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, saying that a national strategy toward climate change is more effective than a state-by-state approach, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Manufacturing levels in the Philadelphia region contracted this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said.

An index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4% last month, the New York-based Conference Board said Thursday.

Ryder System said Wednesday it will buy the truck leasing business of Lily Transportation Corp., a Northeast regional transportation services company based in Needham, Mass.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 4.9 % annual growth rate in the third quarter, the most in four years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Bill Pugh, executive director and general counsel of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, resigned the post he has held for the past six years, NMFTA said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will publish its final rule on electronic onboard recorders during 2008, Administrator John Hill said.