PITTSBURGH — According to a newspaper report, the United States Postal Service paid out $75 million to settle an overtime pay dispute with about 1,500 Pittsburgh-area employees.

A Pittsburgh newspaper reported Thursday the Postal Service paid out the settlement two months ago. The newspaper learned of the details after filing a Freedom of Information Act request.

The settlement came as the result of an arbitrator's decision earlier this year. Union employees had claimed the Pittsburgh Processing and Distribution Center hired casual clerks to do work that should have been done by full- and part-time employees from 1994 to 2004.

The largest amount paid out to a single employee was more than $85,000. The smallest was about $300.

Earlier this month, the Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion in 2008.

SEOUL, South Korea — The iPhone's arrival in South Korea is generating considerable buzz among consumers and industry watchers amid expectations it will shake up a market dominated by world-beating domestic manufacturers.Judging from preorders that started Nov. 22, Apple's hit communications device appears set to make serious inroads in South Korea — home to some of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone users.So far, KT Corp., the local mobile carrier which has contracted with Apple to sell service plans for the phone, said it has received 53,000 advance orders ahead of Saturday's official launch.

Oil prices dipped below $74 a barrel today as Dubai's debt problems jolted world markets and raised concern about the prospects for global economic recovery.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for January delivery was down $4.01 to $73.95 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.