Business briefs

CA's 3Q profit, sales grow

The U.S. Army helped CA Technologies Inc. of Islandia show progress in profits and sales, according to the report CA issued Thursday for the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30. CA made a profit of $222 million, compared with profit of $218 million in the same quarter last year. Its revenue was $1.11 billion this quarter, compared with $1.067 billion in the same period last year. "Our success can be seen in our progress in new product sales, and we expanded our footprint with 100 new major market accounts this quarter," chief executive Bill McCracken said to analysts in a conference call. The key sales push for CA in recent quarters has been to nudge clients from standard info tech setups - with numerous servers and PCs with installed software - to virtualization and cloud computing strategies.

GE in diagnostics deal

General Electric Co. said Friday its health care unit will buy diagnostics company Clarient Inc. in a deal aimed at speeding its expansion into cancer diagnostic and therapy selection tools. GE Healthcare officials say the deal will help them build a $1-billion-plus business developing integrated diagnostic solutions for cancer and other diseases. GE said it will start a cash tender offer to pay $5 per share for Clarient common stock, a 34 percent premium over its closing price on Thursday, and $20 for each preferred share. GE said the deal values Clarient at about $580 million, net of cash and investments.

Unemployment eases some

Nearly half of U.S. states reported drops in their unemployment rates last month, the best showing since June. But job creation was weak in most areas of the country. Unemployment fell in 23 states and Washington, D.C., rose in 11 states and was unchanged in 16 during September, the Labor Department said Friday. The declines were nearly double the number reported by states in August. New York on Thursday reported its unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, fell to 8 percent from 8.2. -From staff and wire reports