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Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 |
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Weather Forecast |
| Cities / State |
°C |
°F |
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Atlanta
(Georgia) |
17.9 |
64.2 |
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Charleston
(South Carolina) |
15.1 |
59.1 |
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Charlotte
(North Carolina) |
16.6 |
61.8 |
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Dallas
(Texas) |
21.9 |
71.5 |
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Miami
(Florida) |
19.4 |
66.9 |
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Nashville
(Tennessee) |
16.3 |
61.4 |
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News » Home
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| Economy showing strength as retail sales climb |
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Date: 04-03-2010
The economy is showing renewed strength as retail sales surged last month and factory orders also increased. Such gains could lead to more hiring — if they can be sustained.
Retailers said Thursday that store sales rose in February by the largest amount since November 2007. And orders to U.S. factories in January posted their sharpest rise in four months. It was another sign that manufacturing is helping drive the economic recovery.
The upbeat reports followed other encouraging signs this week: The service sector grew last month at its fastest pace in more than two years, according to a private survey of purchasing executives released Wednesday. And a similar survey on Monday found that manufacturers are also growing.
"We're going from a narrow recovery" led by manufacturing "to something much broader," said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight.
Still, jobs are the big unknown. First-time claims for jobless benefits remain elevated, despite a drop last week. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment aid fell by 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 469,000 last week. But that drop only partly reversed a sharp rise in claims since the year began.
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| House passes jobs bill despite doubts |
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Date: 04-03-2010
Despite doubts among many lawmakers that it will create many jobs, the House on Thursday passed legislation giving companies that hire the jobless a temporary payroll tax break. The measure passed 217-201 on a mostly party-line vote. The bill also extends federal highway programs through the end of the year.
Some Democrats feel the approximately $35 billion jobs bill is too puny, while others say the tax cut for new hires won't generate many new jobs. However, the pressure is on to address jobs and deliver a badly needed win for President Barack Obama and a Democratic Party struggling in opinion polls and facing major losses in the upcoming midterm elections. Further jobs measures are promised.
"If that's the only thing that I can vote on ... I'll vote for it, obviously," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. "We've got to get something moving. We've got to get something done."
"It's really not a jobs bill," said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. "It's one small piece." Lee said she instead wants money in the legislation for job training and youth summer jobs.
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| Your best diet? It might be in your genes |
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Date: 04-03-2010
Can't lose weight on a low-fat diet? Maybe you need to cut carbs instead, and a new genetic test may point the way, maker Interleukin Genetics Inc reported on Wednesday.
The small study of about 140 overweight or obese women showed that those on diets "appropriate" for their genetic makeup lost more weight than those on less appropriate diets, researchers told an American Heart Association meeting.
"The potential of using genetic information to achieve this magnitude of weight loss without pharmaceutical intervention would be important in helping to solve the pervasive problem of excessive weight in our society," Christopher Gardner at Stanford University in California, who worked on the study, said in a statement.
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| Microsoft CEO: Google merits regulatory scrutiny |
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Date: 02-03-2010
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer intends to keep the regulatory heat on Google as his company strives to lessen its rival's dominance of Internet search.
In an appearance Tuesday at a search engine conference, Ballmer said Microsoft believes Google Inc. has done a number of things to gain an unfair advantage in the Internet's lucrative search advertising market. He didn't specify the alleged misconduct.
"We are expressing some of the issues and frustrations we see" with antitrust regulators, Ballmer said. "Sometimes (it's) unsolicited, sometimes because we have been asked."
Google, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, has said its actions are aimed at providing better experiences for Web surfers and advertisers.
Microsoft already has helped convince U.S. regulators that Google would break antitrust laws in two proposed deals: a search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. that was scrapped in 2008 and a digital books settlement that still needs federal court approval.
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| Obama proposes $3,000 home energy rebates |
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Date: 02-03-2010
President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed rebates of up to $3,000 to help homeowners pay for the cost of making their homes more energy efficient as part of a $6 billion program to create jobs.
In his latest step to convince Americans he can ease their economic woes, Obama traveled to Savannah Technical College to unveil a plan that could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The announcement came as White House economic adviser Larry Summers predicted that winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due on Friday.
The White House had been relieved when the jobless rate dropped below 10 percent in January and could be preparing Americans for an uptick.
The efficiency plan, which must be passed by Congress, is intended to prompt Americans to invest in everything from insulation or new windows to overarching energy upgrades of their homes, creating construction and manufacturing jobs and boosting energy efficiency.
Consumers would be eligible for between $1,000 and $1,500 for simple home upgrades such as insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, air conditioning units, windows, roofing and doors.
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| U.S. consumer spending up again |
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Date: 02-03-2010
U.S. manufacturing grew in February, though more slowly than expected, while consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month, showing the economy continued a modest recovery.
The expansion in national factory activity in February lagged growth in the prior month, a private industry report showed.
"The message is continuing progress for the economy, if not as fast as hoped," said Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics in New York.
Recent economic data had suggested the recovery still faced major headwinds, including Friday's report of a surprise drop in January home sales to a seven-month low and weaker consumer sentiment.
Manufacturing has been among the strongest parts of the economy in the recovery, while consumer spending has been held back by stubbornly high unemployment.
Analysts worry the economy's recovery from the worst downturn since the 1930s could stumble in the second half of the year if spending remains lackluster. Consumer spending is considered key to recovery because it accounts for roughly two-thirds of economic activity.
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| Women & Werewolves Rocks Charlotte |
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Date: 26-02-2010
Emerging from North Carolina’s very own Queen City is the new alternative rock band Women & Werewolves. With influences ranging from heavy acts like Coheed & Cambria and pop rock bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, band members Drew Pitz (vocals), Jesse Hinkelman (drums), Daniel McLemore (guitar), Micah Sidoran (guitar), and Austin Christley (bass), are sure to bring a unique sound that will turn ears across the country and beyond. “We don’t want to be another ‘cookie cutter’ band”, states drummer and band founder Jesse Hinkelman. “We want to be original”.
And originality is something that is already associated with the band, starting with their name. “The name is based on a dream I had”, Hinkelman states. In this dream, Hinkelman envisioned a band with two female and two male members. And he achieved this with the band’s original lineup in May 2009.
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| A look at global economic developments |
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Date: 25-02-2010
A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday:
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LONDON — Economic sentiment in the 16 countries that use the euro worsened in February for the first time in nearly a year, the European Commission said, in a further sign that the recovery from recession has lost momentum.
With sentiment fragile and debt worries mounting across the single currency area, particularly in Greece, the Commission said it was sticking to its November forecast that the eurozone economy would grow by a very modest 0.7 percent this year.
The eurozone's failure to build on its exit from recession last year was evident in the Commission's monthly economic sentiment indicator, which fell 0.1 point to 95.9 in February, partly because consumer confidence deteriorated.
The decline is the first after ten consecutive monthly increases.
Shares dropped in Europe. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 1.2 percent, Germany's DAX slid 1.5 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 2 percent lower.
The worst performing main index in Europe was Athens, which ended down 2.8 percent.
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