Stanley Consultants, a global consulting engineering firm that provides services in program management, planning studies, design, architecture, environmental, urban design and construction management, has expanded to Honolulu.

The office, which is at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Tower 7, Suite 400, will provide a local presence for regional clients as well as access to the firm’s full spectrum of services. Vice President Richard Stump is the office’s client liaison.

Stanley Consultants has more than 30 offices worldwide, and with 1,000 employees is among the country’s largest engineering firms. The company has worked throughout the Pacific islands and Western Pacific countries, including Hawaii, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Guam, the Solomon Islands, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia. The company is currently performing a property records update at several Department of Defense installations on Oahu, and for the past 10 years has provided engineering, design and consulting services to electrical utilities in the state.

Unemployment benefit applications slip

WASHINGTON >> Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, another sign the U.S. job market remains healthy despite a downshift in hiring last month.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications for jobless aid slid by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 259,000, lowest since mid-July. Weekly claims have come in below 300,000 for 79 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1970. The less volatile four-week average slipped by 1,750 last week to 261,250.

Consumer borrowing grows by $17.7B

WASHINGTON >> American consumers increased their borrowing in July, though the category that includes credit cards grew at the slowest pace since February. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that consumer borrowing rose by $17.7 billion in July, up from a $14.5 billion increase in June. Revolving credit, which covers credit cards, rose by $2.8 billion. The category that includes auto and student loans increased by $14.9 billion, up sharply from June’s $5.4 billion gain.

Mazda recalls vehicles over rear hatches

DETROIT >> Mazda is recalling 2.2 million cars and SUVs worldwide because the rear hatches can fall on people and injure them. The recall covers certain 2010 through 2013 Mazda 3 compact cars, as well as 2012 through 2015 Mazda 5 vans. Also included are certain 2013 to 2016 CX-5 and 2016 CX-3 SUVs. Mazda says it has no reports of accidents or injuries caused by the problem.

Door latch recall to cost Ford $640M

DETROIT >> Ford will spend $640 million to replace door latches on nearly 2.4 million cars, trucks and vans this year because the doors can pop open while the vehicles are moving. On Thursday the company announced it would add 1.5 million vehicles to the growing recall, which has become so costly Ford had to cut its estimated full-year pretax profit to $10.2 billion from at least $10.8 billion. Customers have been complaining about the problem, which has affected much of Ford’s North American model lineup, since 2014. At least 3 million vehicles have been recalled due to the problem.

Amazon cuts price, adds Alexa to tablet

NEW YORK >> Amazon wants to be under the Christmas tree this year. It has cut the price of its new Fire tablet almost in half and added its popular voice assistant, Alexa, in hopes of making it a hot holiday item, despite a slump in overall tablet sales. The new Fire HD8 tablet will cost $90, down from $150. Mixed-use battery life is up to 12 hours from eight, and the base storage is doubled to 16 gigabytes. The biggest change is that the tablet will have Alexa functionality. That means that when users tap and hold the tablet’s home button, they can ask the assistant for anything from weather reports to news queries.

ON THE MOVE

Architects Hawaii has announced the following promotions:

>> Luisito “Louie” Dela Cruz Jr. to construction administrator from senior job captain. Dela Cruz has 23 years of experience in commercial, retail and high-rise residential projects, including Walgreens on Keeaumoku Street; Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa; and the Kuakini Medical Center renovation.

>> Lisa Uyema to project accountant from payroll accountant. Uyema is responsible for the joint-venture companies and works directly with the consultants to coordinate payments and billings for government, military and state market segments.

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Hawaiian Telcom has announced that Francis Alueta has rejoined the technology firm as director of network reliability. He was previously serving as a director of global network engineering and operations for Verizon in New Jersey.