Biz Buzz

NATION

Job openings rise in May

U.S. employers advertised more jobs in May than April, a hopeful sign after three months of weak hiring. Job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.6 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's up from 3.4 million in April and the second-highest level in nearly four years, just behind March's 3.7 million, which could mean hiring will pick up in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job.There were 12.7 million unemployed people in May, an average of 3.5 unemployed for each opening. In a healthy job market, the ratio is usually around 2 to 1. -- AP

Economic data leaks probed

Federal criminal and civil investigators looked into possible leaks of economic data the government provides early to news organizations, according to a report Tuesday by the Labor Department. Its inspector general, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI reviewed possible leaks over the past four years, the report said. It's unclear whether any charges resulted. None of the agencies had an immediate comment. But the probes have led Labor to tighten security on release of economic data, including the monthly employment report, and to review which news organizations should get early access or not, especially those serving high-speed stock traders. U.S. authorities have conducted a broad investigation of insider trading in recent months, with dozens of charges and several high-profile convictions. -- AP

DirecTV blackout looms

Viacom Inc. said an impasse in contract talks with DirecTV may mean almost 20 million subscribers will lose access to 26 channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. A blackout was set to occur at midnight Tuesday night if the two sides didn't reach a new fee agreement, Manhattan-based Viacom said in a blog posting Tuesday. Viacom is demanding El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV take its channels down during any continuation of talks, a DirecTV spokesman said in an email. DirecTV says Viacom's ratings are down and it is demanding a 30 percent increase in fees. Viacom said its fees account for less than 5 percent of the satellite service's programming expenses. -- Bloomberg News

Panels want LIBOR answers

Two congressional committees are raising questions about what U.S. regulators knew concerning allegations that the London Interbank Offered Rate, LIBOR, a key global interest rate, was being manipulated. The chairman of a House Financial Services oversight subcommittee has asked the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to provide transcripts of discussions between Fed officials and the British bank Barclays regarding the setting of interest rates from September 2007 to November 2009. The New York Fed said it would comply with the request. Meanwhile, Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said Tuesday he is also concerned about the allegations and has asked staffers to begin gathering information. Barclays has been fined $453 million by U.S. and British authorities for supplying false data which went into calculations of LIBOR. Johnson said he was asking Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to be prepared to answer questions about LIBOR at hearings this month. -- AP

Google said to agree to fine

Google has agreed to pay a $22.5- million fine to settle allegations it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking the online activities of millions of people who use Apple's Safari Web browser. That's according to a person familiar with Google Inc.'s negotiations to settle a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission. If the FTC approves the agreement, the fine would be the largest penalty it's ever imposed. The agency has been investigating whether unauthorized changes Google made to Safari's privacy settings violated a recent FTC agreement prohibiting the company from misleading consumers. -- AP