Confidence among U.S. homebuilders surged in June to the highest level in seven years, reflecting gains in sales as Americans rushed to take advantage of low mortgage rates. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder sentiment rose 8 points, the biggest monthly increase since September 2002, to 52 during the month, the [...]
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 334,000
June 14, 2013 | Posted by
The number of new jobless claims fell last week, pointing to a slower pace of layoffs, according to government data released on Thursday. Initial claims for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits fell 12,000 to 334,000 in the week ended June 8, reaching the lowest level since early May, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The average [...]
In Vote of Confidence in Economy, More Workers Quitting Jobs
June 12, 2013 | Posted by
WASHINGTON – More Americans are quitting their jobs, suggesting many are growing more confident in the job market. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of people who quit their jobs in April jumped 7.2 percent to 2.25 million. That’s just below February’s level, which was the highest in 4½ years. Overall hiring also [...]
Auto Industry Revving Up For Hiring Blitz
June 10, 2013 | Posted by
DETROIT – There’s word Sunday that the U.S. auto industry is about to go on a hiring spree, as automakers prepare to ramp up production to keep up with increased demand. And it’s not just the automakers that will be adding jobs. Many auto suppliers will do so too. A spokesman for Lear Corporation, which makes automotive seats, says [...]
McDonald’s Lures Hungry with Midnight Breakfasts, 1,142-Calorie Fries
June 7, 2013 | Posted by
McDonald’s wants its customers to eat more—day or night, home or abroad. If you’re a night owl, you can now get pancakes or hash browns to go with your Big Mac. And if you live in Japan, how about the Mega Potato? A serving twice as big as the large fries it already serves and at [...]
Samsung Patent Victory Could Lead to iPhone 4 Ban in US
June 5, 2013 | Posted by
Samsung has won a surprise victory in a patent battle with Apple that could see the iPhone 4 and 3G-capable iPad 2 banned from sale in the US. The decision – over a patent deemed essential to conform with the 3G standards, which Samsung has pledged to license freely – will be appealed against by Apple, which said that it [...]
Reports: DirecTV and Two Others Bid $1B to Buy Hulu
June 3, 2013 | Posted by
Satellite operator DirecTV and two other bidders have offered more than $1 billion apiece to buy Hulu, a source with knowledge of the bidding process said on Friday, increasing the likelihood that owners News Corp. and Walt Disney Co. will be able to shed the video streaming service they failed to sell in 2011. Hulu board members, [...]
Report: US Households 55% Poorer After Great Recession
May 31, 2013 | Posted by
WASHINGTON – The average U.S. household has a long way to go to recover the wealth it lost to the Great Recession, a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis concluded Thursday. The typical household has regained less than half its wealth, the analysis found. A separate Federal Reserve report in March calculated [...]
African-American Consumer Spending to Top $1.1 Trillion by 2015
May 29, 2013 | Posted by
There are 43 million African-Americans in the United States, 13.7 percent of the total population, the second largest racial minority in the country. The median age is 32 and 47 percent are under 35 years of age. Even with these impressive numbers and buying power, most mainstream advertisers are not inclusive, do not include African-Americans in [...]
Amazon Working on Plan to Deliver Groceries
May 27, 2013 | Posted by
If you live in Seattle, you’re probably familiar with Amazon Fresh, the e-commerce company’s same-day grocery delivery business. Although Amazon Fresh has been around since 2007, it has never expanded beyond a few Seattle zip codes. It’s an experiment that hasn’t gone any further. And yet Amazon still appears to be working on a plan [...]
