Today in business: 5 things you need to know

1. APPLE MOVES SOME MAC PRODUCTION TO U.S.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will shift some of its production away from China and bring some of its manufacturing back to the U.S., according to Bloomberg. The iPad and iPhone maker is investing $100 million to start building one of its Mac lines at home, Cook says. The vast majority of its products will still come from Asia. The news came as Apple's stock price fluctuated on Thursday, a day after the shares' steepest one-day drop in nearly four years. Apple shares, shaken by rising competition for its dominant iPad tablets, fell as low as $518.63, down from a September peak of $705.07, before returning to positive territory by late morning. Apple stock is still up 30 percent since the start of the year. [Bloomberg]

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2. JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL

Claims for unemployment benefits fell for the third week in a row in the final days of November, dipping to 370,000 from 395,000 the previous week. The numbers have bounced back to the range where they were before Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York and New Jersey in October, crimping hiring in the Northeast. Still, the decline was deeper than expected — analysts predicted 382,000 new jobless claims — and it remained below the 400,000 mark, which is where economists start to worry. One reason for the improvement was a 24,000-person reduction in storm-related claims from New Jersey, where the construction industry and other sectors are bouncing back as they did after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Next up on the jobs front: Friday morning's federal employment report, which economists expect to say the economy added 120,000 jobs in November. [MarketWatch]

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3. BATTERY-MAKER THAT GOT STIMULUS FUNDS UP FOR AUCTION

Bankrupt battery-manufacturer A123 Systems, which got $133 million in stimulus grants under President Obama's clean-energy push, goes up for auction on Thursday, and could wind up getting bought by a Chinese firm. Republicans call the fate of the company, which sold lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and utilities, an example of how Obama wasted money on doomed green projects. Administration officials said the stimulus money helped open a plant in Michigan that could stay open no matter who owns the company. [Washington Post]

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4. MCAFEE DETAINED IN GUATEMALA

Guatemalan authorities arrested security-software pioneer John McAfee for illegally entering the country, and said they would expel him to neighboring Belize as early as Thursday. Police in Belize want to question McAfee in the murder of his neighbor and fellow American expatriate Gregory Faull, who had complained about McAfee's barking dogs. McAfee fled when police showed up at his seaside compound, triggering a bizarre, tech-era manhunt in which McAfee, armed with dozens of cell phone accounts, eluded Belize authorities for 23 days while posting blog entries and sending out messages via Twitter before slipping over the border into Guatemala this week. [USA Today]

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5. HONDA SAYS IT WILL EXPORT U.S.-MADE CARS

Honda, which has been exporting cars and light trucks built in the U.S. since 1987, says it will be a "net exporter" of vehicles from North America within two years. The Japanese automaker, which produces the best-selling Civic compact, has invested $2.2 billion in its North American operations over the last two years, which it expects to boost its production capacity in the region by 18 percent — to 1.92 million vehicles a year — by 2014. The news came as Honda celebrated the completion of its millionth North American-made car for export — a 2013 Honda Accord destined to be sold in South Korea. [Reuters]