BIOTECH

Albireo goes public with reverse merger

Boston biotech Albireo Pharma Inc. went public Thursday through a reverse merger in which it acquired the stock listing of a Connecticut company. The deal will leave Albireo with about $30 million to develop a treatment for a pediatric liver disease. Albireo, which in 2008 was spun out of British drug giant AstraZeneca PLC, will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Friday morning under the stock ticker ALBO. The stock swap with Danbury-based Biodel Inc. gave Albireo a relatively cheap way to access the public markets rather than complete an initial public offering, a spokesman said. After the deal, Biodel will shut down and its stock symbol, BIOD, will cease trading. As part of the transaction, existing Albireo investors provided an additional $10 million to the company, which has four employees at its headquarters in Boston’s financial district and another seven at research labs in Sweden. The company’s lead drug candidate treats progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a rare life-threatening liver disease affecting young children. — ROBERT WEISMAN

PHARMACY

CVS to lay off about 600 people

CVS Health has announced that it is laying off about 600 employees as it streamlines operations in what it calls an effort to save money and better serve customers. The layoffs this month and next mostly affect corporate facilities in Rhode Island, Illinois, and Arizona. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based company employs more than 240,000 people nationwide. Those losing their jobs will have the opportunity to apply for other positions within CVS Health. Those not placed in other positions within the company will be eligible for a transition package to cover financial and health benefits, outplacement support, and career counseling. Shares of CVS Health Corp. slipped $2.38 to $81.57 Thursday. The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager reports on its third-quarter results next Tuesday. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAXES

Number of phony tax returns down more than 50 percent

The number of people who reported having phony tax returns filed in their names fell by more than 50 percent this year from 2015, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday. In the first nine months of this year, some 237,750 people filed reports with the IRS saying that their identities had been stolen. That is down from the same period last year, when 512,278 people reported being victims of identity theft. The IRS and other tax authorities cracked down on tax-related identity theft after noticing a surge in suspicious tax returns in 2015. Tax software providers also made changes. For example, Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, widely rolled out multi-factor authentication and added more alerts to let customers know when their account has been accessed or key information has been changed. — WASHINGTON POST

EMPLOYMENT

Unemployment claims rise, but still at a low rate

More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but jobless claims remain at levels that suggest most workers enjoy job security. The Labor Department said Thursday that claims for unemployment aid rose by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000, the highest since early August. Still, claims came in below 300,000 for the 87th straight week, the longest such streak since 1970, when the workforce was much smaller. Applications for jobless aid are a proxy for layoffs, and most employers have been holding onto staff. The unemployment rate was 5 percent in September, close to what economists consider full employment. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

MORTGAGES

Rates jump to highest level since late June

Long-term mortgage rates jumped this week, reaching their highest levels since late June amid indications of strength in the economy. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.54 percent from 3.47 percent last week. Rates remain near historically low levels, however. The benchmark 30-year rate is down from 3.87 percent a year ago. Its all-time low was 3.31 percent in November 2012. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, popular with homeowners who are refinancing, increased to 2.84 percent from 2.78 percent. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

MORTGAGES

Fannie Mae reports $3.2b in income, up $2b from a year earlier

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae reported net income of $3.2 billion from July through September, up from $2 billion a year earlier, as its losses declined on investments it uses to hedge against interest rate swings. The third-quarter results released Thursday marked the 19th straight profitable quarter for the government-controlled company. Washington-based Fannie Mae said it will pay a dividend of $3 billion to the US Treasury next month. With that payment, Fannie will have paid a total $154.4 billion in dividends. Fannie received $116 billion from taxpayers when the financial crisis struck in September 2008. The government rescued Fannie and smaller sibling Freddie Mac after they suffered huge losses from risky mortgages in the housing market bust. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ELECTRIC CARS

Obama creates electric-charging corridors on highways

President Obama is making it a little easier for electric car owners to make cross-country drives. The White House said Thursday that it’s officially designating 48 US interstates as electric vehicle charging corridors, meaning drivers on those highways will be able to expect charging stations every 50 miles or so. The routes will have signs pointing drivers to nearby charging points, just as drivers of traditional cars currently benefit from highway signs notifying them of gas stations ahead. The new signs cover roughly 25,000 miles of roadway and will eventually be posted in 35 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Obama administration. One of the biggest barriers to electric car adoption, analysts say, is ‘‘range anxiety’’ — the fear of being unable to recharge an EV’s battery while out and about. For commuters who can plug in their cars every night, this is less of a problem. But for long-haul drives, the uncertainty can be crippling. — WASHINGTON POST

GROCERY STORES

Whole Foods to have one chief executive

Whole Foods Market Inc. cofounder John Mackey (right), who opened his first store in 1980 with a staff of just 19 people and built the chain into an organic powerhouse, is now taking full responsibility for restoring the company to glory. The retailer named Mackey as its sole chief executive on Wednesday, ending a dual-CEO role that he shared with Walter Robb for the past six years. In taking the step, the board is trusting that the eccentric Mackey can figure out how to make Whole Foods fresh again after its worst sales slump in at least a decade. Mackey, 63, is a libertarian who has railed against Obamacare and minimum-wage laws, putting him at odds with some Whole Foods customers and employees. But he’s also a vegan who pioneered the organic-food movement and briefly turned Whole Foods into the second-most-valuable food retailer in the United States, behind Walmart Stores Inc., in the fall of 2013. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

REAL ESTATE

Developers of sinking San Francisco tower sued by city

San Francisco on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the developers of a sinking and tilting luxury high-rise, claiming they knew about the problems but did not disclose the information to potential home buyers as required by law. Millennium Tower was completed about eight years ago and so far has sunk 16 inches into the soft soil and landfill of the city’s crowded Financial District. The sinking has been uneven, creating a 2-inch tilt at the base and a roughly 6-inch lean at the top. When the Millennium Tower opened, it became a haven for the well-heeled, and all 419 apartments quickly sold out. Tenants have included former San Francisco 49er Joe Montana, late venture capitalist Tom Perkins, and Giants outfielder Hunter Pence. The same developers built the Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing in Boston, which has not experienced any similar problems, and was chosen by the city to develop the defunct Winthrop Square garage. — ASSOCIATED PRESS