BRIEFCASE MIDEAST TENSION FUELS RISE IN GAS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Gasoline prices rose in Southern California this week for the 13th consecutive week, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported Friday.

``Tensions in the Middle East combined with high demand are pushing prices upward,'' said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.

The average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles area now stands at $1.617 per gallon, 3.9 cents more than last week and 27 cents higher than last month, but 4 cents lower than at this time last year, the Auto Club reported.

``No one knows how high prices will go or whether they will surge past the $2-plus a gallon recorded in many areas last May,'' Spring said.

Good sign: Firms add employees

WASHINGTON - U.S. companies added jobs in March for the first time in eight months, fresh evidence that the economy is on the road to recovery even though the unemployment rate edged up to 5.7 percent.

The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls grew by 58,000 during the month, a welcome sign after companies had slashed hundreds of thousands of positions as they tried to cope with the recession and the jolt of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

After having lost nearly one-fifth of their work force since September 2000, temporary-help firms added 69,000 positions in March, the second straight month that employment grew.

Economists viewed that as a particularly encouraging sign for job growth in general in the months ahead.

Consumer credit increases to 5.1%

WASHINGTON - Americans borrowed briskly in February, especially to finance cars, vacations and other big-ticket items.

Consumer credit rose by a seasonally adjusted $7.1 billion, or at a 5.1 percent annual rate, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The advance - in line with many economists' expectations - offered another encouraging sign that consumers will continue to spend and help along the current economic recovery.

Demand for nonrevolving credit, including new cars and vacations, grew by $6.4 billion in February, or at an annual rate of 7.9 percent. That followed a smaller $5.7 billion increase, or a 7 percent growth rate, in January.

For revolving credit, demand edged up by $674 million, or at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in February.

Alcoa's earnings drop 46 percent

PITTSBURGH - Aluminum-maker Alcoa reported a 46 percent drop in earnings for the first quarter Friday, saying slumping demand continued to squeeze its business.

But the results were in line with Wall Street estimates and Alcoa shares rose 3 percent, or $1.12 a share, to close at $38 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The world's largest aluminum producer reported earnings of $218 million, or 26 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31 compared with $404 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.

It is only the second quarterly drop in profits for the company in eight years, but the second in a row.

Excluding a change in the way Alcoa accounted for acquisitions, the company said it earned 22 cents a share in the latest quarter.

Moves help end Adelphia slide

PHILADELPHIA - Adelphia Communications Corp.'s stock stopped its nine-day slide Friday after the company announced it was hiring investment banks to look into selling assets to reduce its debt.

The firm, the nation's sixth-largest cable television company, is searching for ways to raise cash to appease Wall Street and investors who were shocked by executives' disclosure of $2.3 billion in off-the-books debt when they reported fourth-quarter earnings last week.

The Rigas family, which dominates the executive suite as well as owns a controlling 24 percent stake in the company, borrowed the money through arrangements with family-controlled partnerships. Adelphia could be liable for the debt should the partnerships be unable to meet the debt obligations.

Raytheon joining Northrop on bid

BOSTON - Defense giants Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are joining forces to bid for a contact worth a potential $3 billion to $4 billion to install luggage screening devices in the nation's commercial airports.

The two companies announced the collaboration Friday at Salt Lake City International Airport, which became the first airport to have 100 percent baggage-screening shortly before the Olympic Winter Games.

Congress has mandated that all 438 commercial airports install such technology by the end of the year.