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Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Crude-oil prices at record high

NEW YORK - Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel to hit a new record Friday, fueled by concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and tight U.S. gasoline supplies.

Prices at the pump also kept rising, with the Los Angeles-area average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline at $3.029, up 11.5 cents this week alone and more than 40 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.

Crude prices, which are more than 40 percent higher than a year ago, have risen 8.4 percent from Thursday's closing price - the biggest weeklong jump since the week ended June 17, 2005, when crude futures rose 9 percent.

Analysts say oil prices are likely to climb even higher in the weeks ahead as worries grow about how international pressure on Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil producer, will affect its crude output. Rebel disruptions of oil production in Nigeria, the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports, also pose a risk to supply.

County jobless rate 4.8 percent

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Los Angeles County dropped to 4.8 percent in March, down from a revised 5.3 percent rate for February, state officials reported Friday.

The March unemployment rate was lower than the 5.6 percent rate in the same month last year, according to the Employment Development Department.

In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the jobless rate was 3.4 percent, according to the EDD.

The statewide unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in March, down slightly from 5.0 percent in February and below the 5.5 percent rate in March 2005.

The comparable estimates for the nation were 4.7 percent in March, 4.8 percent in February and 5.1 percent a year ago.

Nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County increased by 19,800 jobs between February and March, according to the state. The largest growth was seen in leisure and hospitality, with large gains also posted in food service.

Jury finds Merck liable for death

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - A state jury found Merck & Co. liable Friday for the death of a 71-year-old man who had a fatal heart attack within a month of taking its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx and ordered the company to pay $32 million.

Merck said it would appeal.

The damage award will likely be reduced because of a state law capping punitive damages.

The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for about seven hours over two days before returning the verdict in favor of the family of Leonel Garza, who had suffered from heart disease for more than 20 years and had taken Vioxx for less than a month.

The company was ordered to pay $7 million in non-economic compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

Wyeth profits up on drug sales

TRENTON, N.J. - Drugmaker Wyeth on Friday reported a 4 percent increase in first-quarter profit, citing tight cost controls and big jumps in sales for five blockbuster drugs, including Effexor, the world's top-selling antidepressant.

Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth also reported significant progress in resolving many of the tens of thousands of remaining lawsuits over Pondimin and Redux, the diet drugs it pulled from the market in September 1997 amid evidence they damaged heart valves.

Wyeth, the maker of Chap Stick, Centrum vitamins and Advil, said net income grew to $1.12 billion, or 82 cents per share, from $1.08 billion, or 80 cents per share, a year ago.