Creeler Vickie Glover replaces an empty spool at the Dixie Group in North Georgia.

Dixie completes Atlas purchase

The Dixie Group, Inc, is paying $17.5 million to acquire the Los Angeles-based Atlas Carpet Mills, a high-end manufacturer and marketer of commercial floorcovering products.

Dixie completed the previously announced deal on Wednesday. The purchase includes the payment of existing debt, the assumption of outstanding purchase orders and a cash payment. The purchase of Atlas, which generated sales of $53 million last year, is the biggest for the Chattanooga-based Dixie Group in more than a decade.

Mortgage rates decline again

Average U.S. rates on 30-year home loans fell last week to 4.32 percent, down from 4.37 percent the previous week, mortgage lender Fannie Mae reported Thursday. The rate on 15-year mortgages fell to 3.32 percent, edging closer to historically low levels.

Banks pass stress test

All but one of America's 30 largest banks are better able to withstand a severe U.S. recession and global downturn than at any time since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Results of the Fed's annual "stress tests" showed Thursday that only Zions Bancorp failed to meet the Fed's minimum level of capital to withstand a crisis. The results showed continued improvement in banks' financial positions since the 2008 crisis, building on positive results last year.