Economic News
U.S. Economy Expands At 0.4 Percent Rate
March 28, 2013 8:41 am | News | CommentsThe U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster but still anemic rate at the end of last year. However, there is hope that growth accelerated in early 2013 despite higher taxes and cuts in government spending. The Commerce Department says the economy grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter.
OECD: World Economy Picking Up But Europe Lagging
March 28, 2013 8:29 am | by Sarah DiLorenzo, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects growth to accelerate in Japan and the United States in the first half of 2013. And though Germany will bounce back strongly, it says other countries that use the euro will contract or only grow slowly.
VW's U.S. Chief Expects Sales To Keep Growing
March 28, 2013 7:55 am | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | News | CommentsVolkswagen Group of America expects U.S. sales to keep growing for the next five years, although its chief executive is tempering expectations a little. The group has seen blistering growth in the U.S. since 2007, when it set lofty goals for sales of the Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley brands.
RIM Sells 1M BlackBerry 10 Phones In 4Q
March 28, 2013 7:51 am | by Rob Gillies, Associated Press | News | CommentsResearch In Motion says it sold about 1 million of its critically important new BlackBerry 10 devices and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter. The earnings provide a first glimpse of how RIM's new touch-screen Z10 is selling internationally and in Canada since its debut Jan. 31.
Is Re-Industrialization The Key?
March 27, 2013 11:53 am | by Dr. Tom McNamara, Assistant Professor of Operations Management, Rennes School of Business | Blogs | CommentsMost economists agree that the “Great Recession” of 2008 ended sometime around August 2009, and while the economy has been slowly recovering, unemployment still appears to be a stubborn problem. The headline rate is just a shade under 8 percent, but another measure, U6, stands at an incredible 14.4 percent.
Lawmakers Mull $100M In Bonds For Nissan
March 27, 2013 8:31 am | by Jeff Amy, Associated Press | News | CommentsMississippi lawmakers are considering giving a development agency the capacity to use $100 million in bonds toward the construction of buildings for suppliers of Nissan Motor Co.'s Canton plant. Two Senate committees voted Tuesday in favor of Senate Bill 2920.
Durable Goods Orders Rise On Aircraft Demand
March 26, 2013 2:16 pm | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsA surge in commercial aircraft demand pushed orders for U.S. long-lasting manufactured goods up sharply in February. The gain offset a steep drop in orders that signal company investment plans, although economists viewed the decline as a temporary setback.
Warning Issued On Doctors' Stakes In Device Firms
March 26, 2013 2:01 pm | by Kelli Kennedy, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general said the increasingly common practice is "inherently suspect" and may violate anti-kickback laws, according to the special fraud alert. The agency has only issued a handful of these national fraud alerts in the past 20 years and the warning sends a strong message to doctors.
Boeing Shares Hit Multiyear High After 787 Flight
March 26, 2013 1:52 pm | News | CommentsShares of Boeing Co. climbed to a multiyear high Tuesday after the company reported a smooth test flight of its new 787 passenger jet and the U.S. government reported that a surge in commercial aircraft sales lifted durable goods orders. Boeing shares rose $1.67, or 2 percent, to $86.52 in midday trading after hitting a high of $86.84 earlier in the session.
Hawaiian Airlines Signs Aircraft Purchase Deal
March 26, 2013 12:11 pm | News | CommentsHawaiian Airlines said it has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus to buy 16 new planes as part of a plan for expanded routes between the islands and the West Coast. The Hawaiian Holdings Inc. unit said the deal comes after the airline reached key labor agreements with its pilot and flight attendant unions on the new single-aisle A321neo planes.
Former Mamtek CEO Released From Jail
March 26, 2013 12:03 pm | News | CommentsOfficials at the Randolph County jail say Bruce Cole was released Monday. He faces one theft charge and four counts of securities fraud stemming from the financial collapse of a Mamtek U.S. facility in Moberly in 2011. Moberly had issued $39 million in industrial development bonds to help finance the construction of the facility.
Ex-Employee Sues United Tech Over Tuition Program
March 26, 2013 12:02 pm | by Stephen Singer, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsA former employee of United Technologies Corp. is suing the aerospace conglomerate over its tuition program that financed graduate school but laid him off before he could receive company stock. He says the stock he received had a vesting date of Oct. 1, 2013. He was laid off in 2012.
Consumer Confidence Falls In March
March 26, 2013 10:16 am | News | CommentsAmericans are less confident in the economy than they were last month as massive government spending cuts stoke economic uncertainty. The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said its reading of consumer confidence fell in March after rebounding last month.
Equipment Lease Finance Industry Confidence Levels Off In March
March 26, 2013 9:34 am | by Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation | News | CommentsOverall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 58.0, a slight decrease from the February index of 58.7, reflecting a leveling off in industry participants’ optimism after two consecutive increases.
U.S. Business Investment Orders Drop In February
March 26, 2013 8:51 am | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe Commerce Department says orders for core capital goods declined 2.7 percent in February. Demand weakened for machinery and communications equipment. The decline followed a 6.7 percent surge in January, which was the biggest one-month gain in nearly three years.
China, Brazil Signing Local Currency Trade Deal
March 26, 2013 8:22 am | News | CommentsChina and Brazil plan to sign a deal to do up to $30 billion of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers work to lessen dependence on the U.S. dollar and euro. Brazil's foreign trade minister Fernando Pimentel says the agreement would involve nearly half his country's $75 billion annual trade with China.
Fizzy Soft Drink Sales Fizzle In 2012
March 26, 2013 8:08 am | News | CommentsAmericans' consumption of fizzy soft drinks, on the decline since 2005, fell last year to its lowest level since 1996. If it weren't for increasingly popular energy drinks like Monster and Red Bull, the decline would have been worse. The declines come amid heavy attention on soda's role in obesity and related health problems.
Bernanke: Low Interest-Rate-Policies Benefit Trade
March 25, 2013 1:47 pm | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsSome critics have argued that the low-interest-rate policies could feed a global currency war, which is lowering currency values to make products more competitive on global markets. Bernanke said the current efforts should support stronger trade flows by boosting growth in major economies so that they could buy more goods from developing countries.
ELFA: New Business Volume Decreased 6 Pct. YOY In February
March 25, 2013 9:23 am | News | CommentsOverall new business volume for February was $4.7 billion, down 6 percent from volume of $5 billion in February 2012, but year to date, cumulative new business volume was up five percent compared to 2012.
BP Announces $8B Share Buyback
March 22, 2013 10:08 am | News | CommentsOil company BP says it will buy back $8 billion in shares after completing a complex deal for TNK-BP. BP invested $8 billion in cash, shares and assets when it formed TNK-BP in 2003 and received a total of $19 billion in dividends over the next decade.
The Cash Register Rings Its Last Sale
March 22, 2013 9:56 am | by Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Retail Writer | News | CommentsThe writing has been on the wall for a long time for the iconic machine, which was created in the late 1800s. The register was essential in nearly every retail location by 1915, but it now seems outdated in a world in which smartphones and tablets increasingly are replacing everything from books to ATMs to cameras.
Beechcraft Sues Over Lost U.S. Air Force Contract
March 22, 2013 7:49 am | News | CommentsThe suit, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., is the latest development in a bitter, high-stakes competition that has taken nearly three years with legal challenges from both sides. The contract for 20 planes for use in Afghanistan is worth more than $427 million. It could be worth as much as $1 billion, depending on future orders.
Report: Uncertainty Surrounds $1.1B Steel Mill Plan
March 21, 2013 9:20 pm | by Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press | News | CommentsState economic development officials overestimated the long-term benefits of a proposal to help finance a $1.1 billion steel mill proposed in northeast Arkansas, because they didn't consider uncertainties surrounding the project, according to report released Thursday by a consultant that lawmakers hired.
Government Funding Bill Sails Through House
March 21, 2013 1:41 pm | by Andrew Taylor, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe House has passed a huge stopgap spending bill to keep the government open through the end of September, sidestepping any threat of a government shutdown. The bipartisan 318-109 vote sends the measure President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
Drivers Face High Gas Prices Despite U.S. Oil Boom
March 21, 2013 1:30 pm | by Jonathan Fahey, AP Energy Writer | News | CommentsThe U.S. is increasing its oil production faster than ever and U.S. drivers are guzzling less gas. But you'd never know it from the price at the pump. The national average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon and it is forecast to creep higher and could approach $4 by May.
