[naviga:h3]Company won’t make insulin pumps[/naviga:h3]

CHESTERBROOK, Pa. — Animas Corp., a Johnson & Johnson diabetes-care business, has announced plans to discontinue manufacturing and sale of insulin pumps, affecting about 400 workers, half of them in the Philadelphia area.

The company said Thursday that about 90,000 patients using Animas pumps will be offered the option of transferring to pumps made by Medtronic PLC.

Animas will cease sales of the Animas Vibe and OneTouch Ping pumps in the United States and Canada immediately and will eventually end operations in other countries.

The company said the decision was “extremely difficult” and followed “extensive exploration of all viable other options.”

Animas employs about 410 people, about half of whom work in Chesterbrook and at a manufacturing plant in West Chester.

[naviga:h3]Hiring expected to rebound in U.S.[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — A pullback in U.S. hiring last month resulting from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma will likely prove short-lived, with a resilient job market pointing to gains in the coming months.

The unemployment rate fell to a fresh 16-year low of 4.2 percent, from 4.4 percent, the Labor Department said Friday in its September jobs report. The proportion of Americans with jobs rose to a nearly nine-year high. And even long-dormant wage growth showed signs of picking up.

The economy lost 33,000 jobs last month — the first monthly loss in nearly seven years — as the hurricanes closed thousands of businesses in Texas, Florida and other parts of the Southeast. Yet hiring is widely expected to rebound in coming months as companies reopen and bring back workers and construction firms ramp up repairs and renovations.

Previous natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, also inflicted short-term job losses that were followed by intensified hiring.

[naviga:h3]Gasoline price falls 7 cents per gallon[/naviga:h3]

CAMARILLO, Calif. — The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline fell 7 cents nationally over the past two weeks to $2.56.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the drop comes as crude oil prices drop and flooded refineries on the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast return to operation.

Lundberg says she expects further price cuts as refiners make cheaper “winter grade” gasoline.

The current price is 27 cents above where it was a year ago.

Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.11 a gallon. The lowest was in St. Louis at $2.20 a gallon.

[naviga:h3]Dairy Queen will get new CEO next year[/naviga:h3]

OMAHA, Neb. — Dairy Queen will get a new CEO next year after John Gainor retires.

The restaurant chain known for its ice cream treats said Thursday that Dairy Queen’s current Chief Operating Officer Troy Bader will get a sweet new job in January.

Bader has been with Dairy Queen since 2001, which is actually two years longer than Gainor.

Dairy Queen has more than 6,700 locations in more than 25 countries.