Morning headlines

Job numbers: July's U.S. unemployment report got the markets excited because the smaller-than-expected gain in payrolls suggests that the economy is slowing. And a slower economy means that the Federal Reserve won't be so anxious to raise interest rates.

Special deals?: Juicy story in the Times this morning about how the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has favored construction projects sought by nine current and former city commissioners and donors to the mayor and City Council. One of the projects involved a Building and Safety Commissioner - and heavy contributor to local politicians. The more things change...

NFL back on: The Federal Communications Commission tells Time Warner Cable to reinstate the NFL Network on its local cable system. The order comes two days after the channel was shut down over a contract squabble between Time Warner and the NFL. The order remains in effect until the commission completes a study and issues a final order. Who knows how long that will be. Through the end of the season, perhaps?

Speaking of Time Warner: New programming packages will be rolled out this fall. Time Warner is expected to push premium packages that include digital phone service and high-speed Internet. Digital channel lineups will be grouped by content.

Tower troubles: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group have stopped shipping CDs to Tower Records because the retailer has stopped paying its bills. The Times has the story, citing industry sources. A few days ago, Tower named a crisis management specialist as its new CEO.

True sale?: Premium jeans maker True Religion hires Goldman Sachs to consider "strategic alternatives," which usually is what companies do when they're ready to be sold. There have been rumors for some time that the L.A.-based company was looking to be acquired or perhaps go private. Executives there don't like being publicly held.

Remember Milan Panic?: He was the founder of ICN Pharmaceuticals (now called Valeant Pharmaceuticals International) and was forced to resign in 2002 after taking more than $33 million in bonuses for his involvement in a spinoff. Well, Panic has agreed to pay $20 million to the Costa Mesa company to settle things.

Lower gas prices: It's the middle of the summer driving season, but pump prices took a dip this week. The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.243, which is 2.4 cents lower than last week, according to the Auto Club's weekly survey. Still, that's 70 cents higher than a year ago.

Different direction: When CBS became its own company, wasn't it supposed to focus on television? Well, there's all kinds of chatter over plans by CBS CEO Les Moonves to produce four to six movies a year. He insists that it's not a big bet for the company. CBS had split from Viacom, which owns Paramount.

WGA pick: The Writers Guild of America, west, has named David Young exexcutive director. He had been serving in that role on an interim basis. Young, who must still be approved by the full guild membership, is expected to take be more aggressive with the networks and studios than his predecessor, John McClean. That will probably stir up strike talk.