Strike talk doesn't hurt

US Airways has complained that talk of strike by labor unions might hurt business, but yesterday the airline reported passenger traffic -- as measured by the number of miles flown by paying passenger -- rose 2 percent last month on a 1.3 percent increase in available seat miles. The increases pushed the passenger load factor -- the number of seats filled by passengers -- to a record 73.1 percent for the month.

Import fees lift Universal

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products said fourth-quarter earnings would include other income of $507,000, or 5 cents per diluted share, from federal payments collected from import duties. Federal legislation that was enacted in 2000 and is being protested by the World Trade Organization authorized the U.S. Customs Service to distribute the import fees to companies injured by unfair trade practices.

Clearer sailing for ClearCount

Downtown-based ClearCount Medical Solutions Inc. said it received nearly $300,000 in funding from local economic development groups that include Innovation Works, the Idea Foundry and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse. The medical device maker, which uses radio frequency identification technology to track and count surgical instruments used in operating rooms, said it would use the funds to develop another prototype.

Shaw Group downgraded

Standard & Poor's yesterday downgraded The Shaw Group, owner of the former IT Group in Monroeville, deeper into junk levels with a rating of BB-, down a notch from BB, with a negative outlook. The credit ratings agency cited the Baton Rouge, La.-based energy, environmental and engineering services' "weak earnings quality and cash flow generation'' linked to its $476 million of debt. The Shaw Group lost $31 million on sales of $3.1 billion in its last fiscal year despite posting two consecutive quarters of profits.

Kennametal CFO leaving

Kennametal said Chief Financial Officer F. Nicholas Grasberger III, 40, would leave the company at the end of the month to join Armstrong Holdings as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Controller and Chief Accounting Officer Timothy Hibbard will assume Grasberger's duties during the search for a new CFO.

Also in business ...

Alcoa named Franklin L. Feder, 53, president of its Alcoa Latin America in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Feder has been based in New York as vice president of analysis and planning.