Stocks climb…EU approves Chiquita deal…Judge rejectsTrump pension motion

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are surging after the government reported a burst of hiring last month. The Labor Department says employers added 248,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008. The Dow Jones industrial average has been up more than 200 points in afternoon trading on Wall Street. U.S. bonds and gold fell as investors anticipated higher interest rates.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s antitrust body has approved a merger between U.S. banana company Chiquita and Fyffes of Ireland in a deal that creates the world’s largest banana supplier. As part of the stock transaction, Chiquita will relocate its headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Ireland.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Salix Pharmaceuticals is scrapping its merger with the subsidiary of an Italian drugmaker after the U.S. created new limitations on the tax benefits of incorporating overseas. The Raleigh, North Carolina, drugmaker says a transformed political environment has created more uncertainty about the benefits they had expected to achieve from the deal announced in July.

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware bankruptcy judge has denied a request by Trump Entertainment Resorts to be relieved of its pension obligations under a collective bargaining agreement with workers at the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Judge Kevin Gross denied the motion in a teleconference with attorneys today. Another hearing is scheduled Oct. 14 on Trump Entertainment’s request for permission to terminate the labor agreement entirely.

UNDATED (AP) — The United Auto Workers is ramping up its efforts to gain representation of workers at the Mercedes plant in Alabama. The union has so far been thwarted in its attempts to organize any foreign automaker in the South, but it’s been gaining support from powerful labor representatives who serve on the supervisory boards of German automakers like Mercedes parent Daimler and Volkswagen. The UAW is also working to represent workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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