According to Employment Development Department, job losses in Orange County continued in August. The number of layoffs accounted for 26,600 non-farm workers last month, a decline of 1.8 percent compared to a year earlier. The county has a total of 1.48 million non-farm workers.

The 26,600 jobs loss over the last 12 months was however slightly tempered from July. August saw the second highest job loss in this year after July’s 30,000 job loss. Now, the local unemployment edged up to 5.8 percent, up from July’s 5.7 percent and 4.2 percent from a year earlier. The 5.8 percent is the highest jobless rate since August, 1994. (more…)

3M Co., the maker of Scotch Tape and Post-It Notes, is acquiring the famous Irvine-based car care products maker Meguiar’s Inc. As such, there have been no financial terms that are disclosed in front of the media.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It is likely to be very hefty as Meguiar’s Inc. has acquired a half yearly sales of more than $100million.

Meguiar’s, based in Irvine, Calif., employs 115 people, the companies said in a prepared statement today. The company manufactures products like Mirror Glaze polishes and waxes for professional use, as well as consumer products. (more…)

According to the Quarterly India Venture Capital Report released today by Dow Jones VentureSource, during the second quarter of this year, venture capitalists were keen to back the advertising start-up companies in India. Reportedly, about $89 million, nearly 37 percent of the region’s total quarterly investment went to five advertising/marketing companies. This was the highest percentage among any other sector. The quarter accounted for $238 million over 17 deals for India, an increase of 120 percent over $108 million invested in 12 deals during the same period in 2007. (more…)

Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc. announced the sale of its City Plaza tower, a  327,000-square-foot office building in Orange County to Hudson Capital LLC. The  latter is a Los Angeles-based investment firm, founded by Victor Coleman, former president of Arden Realty Inc.

Maguire said that the disposition is part of the company’s previously announced plan to sell certain Orange County properties in order to eliminate project debt and funding obligations and improve Funds from Operations. (more…)

Edwards Lifesciences Corp.confirmed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given approval for its heart valve to fix defective mitral heart valves.
 
This new device is based on an existing Edwards mitral valve, but it is designed in an all-together different manner, in order to match the asymmetric shape of the human mitral valve. According to the Irvine-based Edwards, the Perimount Magna mitral valve will be launched very soon. (more…)

According to the Commerce Department, spending by U.S. consumers slowed sharply in July, as the personal income fell and at the same time the impact of the tax rebates faded and inflation mounted.

In July, the personal income dropped 0.7 percent, the sharpest decrease since a 2.3 percent plunge in August 2005. Consumer spending rose 0.2 percent in the month of June, the weakest gain since February.

On the inflation front, consumer income slipped 1.7 percent in July, a 2.6 percent decline in the prior month. Spending dropped 0.4 percent, extending a 0.1 percent decline in June. The July inflation-adjusted decline was the deepest drop since June 2004. Price-adjusted purchases of durable goods, such as autos, furniture and other long-lasting items, dropped 1.6 percent and spending on non-durable goods decreased 0.9 percent. And services, which account for almost 60 percent of all outlays were unchanged. (more…)