Business Highlights

DALLAS — Blockbuster Inc. began a new service Wednesday that allows customers renting DVDs online to return them to neighborhood stores and receive a free in-store rental. It’s one of several new consumer perks that Blockbuster Chief Executive John Antioco hopes will strengthen ties between the company's online and brick-and-mortar businesses.

"This gives the customers the best of both worlds: the convenience of ordering online and the immediate gratification of getting the movie right there, right now,” Antioco said.

Additionally, the program should give Blockbuster a better chance to build its online customer base to 2 million by year’s end. It had 1.5 million at the end of September.

The new program is called Blockbuster TotalAccess.

Apple iTunes store launches Latin section

SAN JOSE — Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday launched iTunes Latino, a dedicated area within its U.S. online store for Latin music, videos, audio books and podcasts.

The iTunes store, the world’s leading digital music outlet with more than 1.5 billion songs sold, had already previously included Latin as a music genre for browsing customers, but company officials said customers were asking for more Latin content. Offering a dedicated Latino section with a broader product mix also made sense given the nation’s growing Hispanic population, of which more than half are Internet users, said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes.

A third of adjustable-rate mortgage holders worried about payments if rates go up

WASHINGTON — The future is gnawing at homeowner Scott Klimek. Will the interest rate on his adjustable-rate mortgage go up? Will he be able to afford the monthly payments if it does?

Klimek, 47, bought his home in Brighton, Colo., with a five-year ARM. "If it was, like, this year that it was going to adjust, then I would really be worried, but I’m just moderately worried,” says Klimek. He has four more years until the rate on his mortgage changes.

He is not alone in his concern.

An AP-AOL Real Estate Poll found that more than one-third — 36 percent — of those surveyed with adjustable-rate mortgages worry that they won’t be able to afford their monthly mortgage payments if their interest rates increase.

Manufacturing and construction show weakness, economy slows

Manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in more than three years, and construction spending declined as housing continued to suffer through its longest stretch of weakness since 1995. Two reports released Wednesday depicted an economy beginning to feel the impact of the sharp slump in the once-booming housing sector.

The Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of manufacturing activity fell to 51.2 in October. That compares with 52.9 in September and is the lowest since June 2003. October’s decline reflected weakness at companies that supply the beleaguered auto and housing industries.