WICHITA, Kan. — The Boeing Co., for decades the brand that helped support Wichita’s claim as the aviation capital of the world, announced Wednesday it will shut down facilities in the city by the end of 2013 and send work to plants in three other states as it deals with defense spending cutbacks.

The closure will cost more than 2,160 workers their jobs and end the firm’s presence in an area where it has been a major employer for generations.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Sears Holdings has released a partial list of the Sears and Kmart stores set to close as a result of the company’s poor sales this holiday season.

Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) said earlier this week that it planned to close between 100 and 120 stores at an unspecified time in the near future.

On Thursday, the firm released a list of 79 that are set to be shuttered nationwide.

Sears said in a statement that it could not provide an estimate of the job losses coming as a result of these closures because employment “varies by store and format.” The dates on which the stores will close have yet to be announced. (See the list.)

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to hold off on closing any more post offices or mail facilities until May 15, 2012, to allow Congress time to work on a plan to save the service.

The U.S. Postal Service agreed to voluntarily enact a moratorium on closures, after a series of talks with senators, lawmakers said. Sen. Richard Durbin said the postal service agreed to the deal, and he called it a challenge to Congress to “put up or shut up.”

The news of the moratorium comes just a week after the Postal Service announced a plan to slow down first-class mail, which would have closed some 250 mail processing plants nationwide and eliminated 28,000 jobs.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The city of Fort Smith, Ark., got hit with a double whammy on Friday, as one factory closed down and another faced imminent demise.

Whirlpool Corp. (WHR, Fortune 500) said it will shut down its factory next year, putting about 1,000 people will be out of work, in addition to the 800 lay offs that have already occurred at the appliance plant.

On the same day, Fortis Plastics shuttered its doors, resulting in another 90 lost jobs.

Mayor Sandy Sanders, who worked at Whirlpool for 32 years in human resources, acknowledged the “dwindling” demand in the area of manufacturing, noting that 5,000 people had worked at the factory when he retired in 1998.

WASHINGTON — The pace of U.S. home foreclosures may not slow much after all.

Bank of America said Monday that it plans to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes in 23 states next week. It said it has a legal right to foreclose despite accusations that documents used in the process were flawed.

It’s not yet clear whether other major leaders will follow suit and resume foreclosures in the states that require a judge’s approval. But the move by the nation’s biggest bank could give way to an industrywide effort to push ahead with a wave of foreclosures that have depressed the housing market.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — First it was Hurricane Katrina, then it was the BP oil spill. Now the Louisiana coastal region faces a third economic crisis: Northrop Grumman Corp. will close the shipyard in Avondale, eliminating 5,000 jobs.

Northrop Grumman (NOC, Fortune 500) said late Tuesday that it will “wind down” the shipyard, located in the immediate vicinity of New Orleans, by 2013. First it must finish building two LPD-class Navy ships, which are used to transport Marines.

Real estate agents are working seven days a week, builders are staying open late and homebuyers are scrambling to get their offers in as they rush to take advantage of tax credits that expire at midnight Friday.

To qualify, buyers must have a signed contract in hand by the deadline and must complete the deal by June 30.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Cablevision Systems, a New York-area cable provider, said Friday it was no longer carrying The Food Channel and HGTV, two channels operated by Scripps Networks Interactive, in a dispute over distribution rights fees.

“We are sorry that Scripps’ current financial difficulties are making it impossible for them to continue our relationship on terms that are reasonable for Cablevision and our customers,” Cablevision (CVC, Fortune 500) said in a statement. “We wish Scripps well and have no expectation of carrying their programming again, given the dramatic changes in their approach to working with distributors to reach television viewers.”

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Five banks failed late Friday, bringing the 2009 tally to 120.

The biggest to fall was United Commercial Bank of San Francisco, which had 63 U.S. branches as well as operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The bank held deposits totaling $7.5 billion.

East West Bank of Pasadena, Calif., agreed to assume all of United Commercial’s domestic branches, as well as its international subsidiaries.

United Security Bank of Sparta, Ga., closed its doors for the last time on Friday. Moultrie, Ga.-based Ameris Bank will assume control of all United Security’s deposits.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Computer maker Dell announced on Wednesday that it will close a plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will cut 905 jobs as a result.

Dell said that 600 plant workers will be laid off in November, and the remaining 305 employees will be cut by January 2010, when the plant is scheduled to close. The cuts represent about 1% of the company’s 78,900 employees.

“This is a difficult decision, especially for our North Carolina colleagues, but a necessary one for Dell customers and our company,” said Frank Miller, vice president of Dell, in a statement. “The efforts of our team members there have been significant and we’re committed to helping them through their transition.”

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Regulators closed subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 94, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Customers of the bank, however, are protected. The FDIC, which has insured bank deposits since the Great Depression, currently covers customer accounts up to $250,000.

Irwin Union Bank and Trust Company and Irwin Union Bank, F.S.B. operated a combined 27 branches in nine U.S. states. Both banks were run by Columbus, Ind.-based Irwin Financial Corp.

First Financial Bank, NA, which is based in Hamilton, Ohio, will assume all of the deposits of the two banks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Five small regional banks were closed by regulators on Friday evening, pushing 2009′s tally so far to 89 institutions. Of the five failures, two were in Illinois, and there was one each in Arizona, Iowa and Missouri.

Customers of the banks, however, are protected. The Federal Deposit Insurance Company, which has insured bank deposits since the Great Depression, covers each customer account up to $250,000.

In Illinois, Platinum Community Bank, in Rolling Meadows, and InBank, in Oak Forest, were the latest institutions to be cosed by regulators. This makes for a total of 15 failed Illinois banks this year. The last one to go under was Mutual Bank, in Harvey, on July 31, 2009.