NEW YORK — AT & T; Inc. on Friday said it plans to cut about 4,600 jobs, or 1.5 percent of its work force, to shift resources to growing parts of its business. The nation’s largest telecommunications provider said most of the layoffs will be among managers, particularly in wireline operations, including local phone service and service for large corporate customers. Jobs in corporate functions in like finance will also be cut. “Even with the reductions announced today, we expect our head count overall to remain stable this year as we hire additional employees to support growth areas like wireless and TV,” said spokesman Michael Coe. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_business13apr18,1,6181518.story

Pharmaceutical software firm Simulations Plus Inc. announced that GlaxoSmithKline has renewed its global multi-year license for Simulations Plus software and has added a new site at its Parsippany, N.J. location. “We appreciate the continued confidence GSK has shown in Simulations Plus over the years, as well as suggestions for improvement they have provided that are now standard features in our programs,” said Walt Woltosz, chairman and chief executive officer of Lancaster-based Simulations Plus. “This is a time of growing use of simulation and modeling tools in pharmaceutical research, and GSK has been one of the companies at the forefront. We look forward to continuing the excellent relationships we have with GSK scientists worldwide.”

NEW YORK — Retail gas prices pushed past a record high $3.40 a gallon, fulfilling expectations that they’ll keep climbing toward $4 as the summer driving season approaches. Oil prices, meanwhile, fluctuated after setting yet another record high overnight. Analysts said investors were locking in gains from crude’s ongoing rally and trying to determine whether prices have more room to rise. At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of unleaded gas rose 1.9 cents overnight to $3.418 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel fuel also hit a new record of $4.146 a gallon after jumping 1.7 cents overnight, the survey said. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_business12apr17,1,5722764.story

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and four other Valley region companies are among the founders of a new consortium to bring affordable 3D entertainment to the home. Among the companies is QPC Lasers Inc., developer of a laser technology with an application for television sets. “We believe that 3D enabled displays using this technology will create an even more immersive experience for the user and allow BrightLase-based visible lasers to be exploited to their full commercial capacity,” said Jeffrey Ungar, CEO of QPC. Along with Disney and QPC, 3ality, based in Burbank, In-Three, in Westlake Village, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment are among the founders of the U.S. Display Consortium and 3D@Home Consortium.

The state’s largest for-profit health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, was accused of a widespread pattern of false advertising and fraud in a $1-billion lawsuit that claims that the company’s coverage “is largely illusory.” Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo alleged in the suit that the insurer sold people false promises of coverage and concealed a scheme to renege on policies for those diagnosed with serious and often expensive medical conditions, including cancer and congestive heart failure. The suit says more than 500,000 people were tricked into buying individual and family policies from Blue Cross. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure17apr17,1,2675470.story

Office vacancy rates rose 11.7% for the first quarter in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County markets, the third consecutive quarter of negative net absorption, according to the Colliers International Market Report. Asking rental rates did not change from the previous quarter and were still healthy; up 9 percent from the first quarter of 2007. However, the report predicted that there would be “significant downward pressure on rental rates throughout the remainder of 2008.” That will be exacerbated by the more than 1 million square feet of office space under construction in the region, becoming available in the second and third quarter of ’08 and, the report suggests, potentially increasing vacancy rates another 1 to 2 percent.

A new area code for the San Fernando Valley goes before the California Public Utilities Commission next week for approval. A recent judicial decision recommended that the 747 area code be assigned only to new telephone lines in the Valley, rather than forcing half the area’s residents to switch their existing numbers, the Daily News reported. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission at its meeting next week, the new area code would go into effect in fall 2009, the Daily News said. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said her office also had asked the PUC to study the impact the change would have on businesses and residents in the Valley and what would be the least costly option, the Daily News reported. “To date, I don’t believe we’ve seen the results of any kind of review that would demonstrate what is going to be the best for the Valley,” Greuel was quoted in the Daily News.

A federal court in Texas issued a permanent injunction to enforce a jury verdict in an infringement case involving Power-One Inc. The injunction from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas prohibits Artesyn Technologies from developing, manufacturing or selling a new type of digital power converter that infringes on a patent held by Camarillo-based Power-One. A jury found in November that Artesyn, a division of Emerson Electric Co., had infringed on two Power-One patents.

WASHINGTON — Consumer prices pushed higher last month as increases in energy, food and airline tickets overwhelmed the biggest drop in clothing prices in nearly a decade. The Labor Department reported today that consumer prices rose 0.3% in March after being unchanged in February. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, posted a 0.2% rise last month. Both the overall increase and the rise in core prices were in line with analysts’ expectations. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-econ17apr17,1,3181331.story

Brand management company Cherokee Inc. reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Feb. 2. Net income for Van Nuys-based Cherokee for the fiscal year was $16.4 million, or $1.84 per diluted share, on revenues of $41.6 million. That is a drop of nearly 53 percent compared to the net income of $34.8 million, or $3.93 per diluted share, on revenues of $76.6 million for fiscal year 2007. While the comparison suggests a poor year, the company explained that income in 2007 included one-time income of $27.7 million from the sale of its Mossimo Finder’s Agreement. That agreement provided for Cherokee Inc. to receive 15 percent of all earned royalties received from Mossimo’s license with Target Stores in perpetuity in exchange for finding and brokering the license agreement. “We are pleased with our overall results for the year as our Cherokee worldwide retail sales exceeded $2.5 billion,” President Howard Siegel said in a prepared statement. Shares in Cherokee closed down at $30.13.