Steelworkers approve pactPITTSBURGH — Members of the United Steelworkers union have ratified a new three-year contract with U.S. Steel Corp. covering about 18,000 workers at more than a dozen facilities across the country.The union announced Monday that members voted by more than a 2-to-1 margin in favor of the pact, which takes effect immediately.The contract covers thousands of workers at the company’s domestic flat-rolled and iron ore mining facilities as well as workers at tubular operations in Fairfield, Ala.; Lorain, Ohio; and Lone Star, Texas.The two sides announced a tentative agreement in December. Union officials say it includes no wage hikes but increases the profit-sharing percentage and resets supplemental unemployment benefits for laid-off workers.The pact doesn’t cover about 13,000 workers at steelmaker Arcelor Mittal for whom negotiations continue.

Cheaper gas cuts royalties to stateHARRISBURG — A drop in natural gas prices is now also affecting the state of Pennsylvania’s coffers.The state forests department says that lease payments and royalty income from natural gas drilling on state forests dropped by 46 percent. That’s over the first six months of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period a year earlier.The department says royalty and rent income was $68.3 million in the July through December period of 2014. Income dropped to $36.7 million over the same six months in 2015.The money has been used in recent years to both operate and improve the state-owned parks and forests, although its diversion to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is the subject of a court challenge.

CDC says E. coli issue appears overWASHINGTON — Looks like it’s safe to bite into that burrito.The federal agency that monitors public health says the outbreak of E. coli illness linked to Chipotle restaurants that sickened 60 people appears to be over.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the most recent illness reported to the agency started on Dec. 1.

Mattel reports higher revenueLOS ANGELES — Mattel might finally be seeing a turnaround as it reported higher profit and revenue in the fourth quarter, helped by increased sales for Barbie and several other key brands.“Overall, we’re very encouraged,” said Mattel Chief Executive Christopher Sinclair in a conference call with analysts and investors. “We achieved our goal of stabilizing the business.”For the three months ended Dec. 31, the Los Angeles-area toy company posted net income of $215.2 million, a 44 percent increase from the $149.9 million during the same period a year earlier. On a per-share basis, Mattel earned 63 cents compared with 44 cents.For the 2015 year, Mattel reported net income of $369.4 million, down 26 percent from 2014.