GE Appliances adding 150 jobs in Tennessee

GE Appliances, a Haier company that has major operations in LaFayette, Georgia, on Wednesday announced a $34 million investment to expand refrigeration manufacturing and create 150 new jobs at a Selmer, Tennessee, location.

The investment at Monogram Refrigeration LLC will increase the size of the plant and add new fabrication equipment and an assembly line to build Monogram and Café brand integrated bottom-freezer refrigerators, according to the company.

The newly created jobs will make Monogram the largest industrial employer in McNairy County, according to GE Appliances.

The company’s Roper Corp. plant in LaFayette employs 2,500 people making cooking products and is GE Appliances’ largest manufacturing operation outside its Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters.

Aldi to buy 400 Winn-Dixie stores

Discount grocer Aldi says it’s acquiring 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets in the Southern U.S.

Under a proposed merger agreement, Aldi will acquire all outstanding shares of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Harveys. If the deal is approved by regulators, it’s expected to close in the first half of 2024. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Both Southeastern Grocers and Aldi are private companies. Aldi is based in Germany with its U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois. Aldi operates five grocery stores in Hamilton County.

Aldi said it will convert some locations to its own brand and format but will operate some stores under the Winn-Dixie and Harveys brands.

Stock market drops again

Wall Street’s weak August worsened, and the S&P 500 closed 0.8% lower. The Dow dropped roughly 180 points Wednesday, and the Nasdaq fell 1.1%.

Increased pressure came from the bond market, where yields have neared their highest levels since the Great Recession. Yields climbed more following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting. The Fed appears unsure about its next move on interest rates.

Hopes had been rising that last month’s rate hike would prove to be the Fed’s last.

Tech stocks seen as the most vulnerable to higher rates were among the market’s heaviest weights.

British inflation dips to a 17-month low

The rate of inflation in the United Kingson fell sharply in July to a 17-month low largely on the back of lower energy prices. It’s a welcome development for hard-pressed households struggling during the cost of living crisis.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, was 6.8% in July, its lowest level since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and sent energy prices surging.

The decline from June’s 7.9% rate was in line with economists’ expectations. It’s unlikely to derail market expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates again next month, especially as wages are rising at a record high.

— Compiled by Dave Flessner