Ohio county lands sole health insurer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The lone U.S. county still at risk of leaving shoppers with no choices next year on the federal health law’s insurance marketplace has landed an insurer.

Ohio-based insurer CareSource will step up to provide coverage in Paulding County, Ohio, in 2018, the company and the state Department of Insurance announced Thursday.

A recent analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation identified Paulding, near Toledo, as the final county still at risk of lacking an insurer when 2018 signups begin Nov. 1.

Earlier this year, well over 40 mostly rural counties faced the prospect of having no options for their exchanges next year, but insurers have gradually come forward to fill the gaps.

Sears Holdings to close 28 more Kmart locations

Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday it will close 28 additional Kmart stores nationwide as the retailer continues to struggle with declining sales. None is in New Mexico.

All 28 of the stores, except one in Florida, will close in mid-November, with liquidation sales coming as early as the end of this month, the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer said in a statement.

Already, Sears has closed 180 stores this year. An additional 150 stores that were slated for closing are to shut by the end of next quarter.

Mexico’s oil output falls below 2M barrels a day

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s crude oil output has fallen below 2 million barrels per day for the first time since comparable records were kept starting in 1990.

State-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos reports on its website that average daily output in July was about 14,300 barrels short of the 2 million mark.

Production has fallen steadily after peaking at as much as 3.4 million barrels per day between 2003 and 2005.