The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance fell more than expected last week, according to a weekly government report released Thursday.
There were 473,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Aug. 21, down 31,000 from an upwardly revised 504,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting new claims to fall to 485,000.
Claims had been stuck in the mid- to upper-400,000 range for about nine months, but spiked above 500,000 for the first time since November in last week’s report.
"The latest numbers provide a sigh of relief to stressed financial markets and at least uphold the possibility that the economy can avoid a double-dip recession," said economist John Lonski, of Moody’s Economy.com. "But we still need to establish a declining trend for jobless claims so we can feel more confident in the economic recovery."
The 4-week moving average of initial claims — a number that tries to smooth out week-to-week volatility — was 486,750, up 3,250 from the previous week.
Lonski said that figure needs to break below 450,000 and set new lows in order to improve the outlook for the job market, which he is optimistic about.
"Given that business sales rebounded in July after two months of decreases, companies may hold on to more employees, if not hire more," he said business card templates. "So it’s conceivable that that latest decline in jobless claims will be the first in a series of such declines."
Continuing claims: The government said 4.46 million people continued to file unemployment claims for their second week or more, during the week ended Aug. 14, the most recent data available. That’s down 62,000 from an upwardly revised 4.52 million the week before.
Continuing claims reflect people who file each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks. The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people who have exhausted their benefits but are still out of a job.
The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 28,000 to 4.51 million.
State-by-state: Jobless claims in eight states declined by more than 1,000 in the week ended Aug. 15, which is the most recent state data available. Claims in California dropped the most, by 5,275. The state attributed the drop to fewer layoffs in the service and manufacturing industries.
Claims jumped by more than 1,000 in Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.
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Valley sushi restaurant Zen 32 is closing its doors. Operators cite a number of reasons for the closing, including the costs associated with a desired remodel.
The trendy asian-fusion grille was a long-time standard in Phoenix, offering up sushi, a grill menu and a popular outdoor patio at the corner of 32nd Street and Camelback Road in the Camelback Corridor.
The sushi-n-sake spot, which had received four stars from online reviewers such as Trip Advisor and others, is expected to close its doors by the end of the month, but will continue to offer its weekday sushi Happy Hour from 4:30 to 6:30 p payday loan lenders.m. Monday through Friday and a reverse happy hour starting at 10 p.m. nightly.
For more: www.zen32.com
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Dell Inc. has agreed to buy 3Par in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.15 billion, the companies said Monday.
Dell will pay $18 per share for 3Par's common stock, an 86 percent premium over Friday's closing price of $9.65.
Fremont-based 3Par is a maker of high-efficiency IT storage systems.
The boards of both companies have approved the terms.The deal is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.
The transaction is expected to be accretive to Dell's non-GAAP earnings in its fiscal year 2012.
The outlook for the job market has improved, according to a survey of leading economists released Monday, even as the economic recovery hit a speed bump in the second quarter.
In its second-quarter industry survey, the National Association for Business Economics said employers grew payrolls for a second consecutive quarter this year. The percentage of firms increasing staff levels grew to 31% in the quarter, versus only 6% in the same period a year ago.
At the same time, the percentage of employers cutting jobs continued to move lower.
Looking ahead, the survey showed that 39% of companies expect to add employees over the next six months, the highest level of planned hiring since January 2008.
"The labor market continued to improve, with increases in current hiring and a rise in the percentage of firms planning to add workers over the next six months," William Strauss, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said in a statement.
The jobs outlook is encouraging news for American workers. The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 9.5% as of June. The jobless rate has averaged 9.7% over the first half of the year, and many economists expect it to remain elevated into 2011.
But the survey, based on responses from 84 NABE economists who work for private-sector firms and industry trade associations, also indicated that the pace of the economic recovery slowed in the second-quarter.
Industry demand grew at a slower pace in the quarter, the survey said. Corporate profits grew as price and cost pressures remained tame. About one out of four firms increased capital spending versus the previous quarter, and a growing number expect to continue investing over the next 12 months, according to NABE.
While economic activity is expected to remain positive this year, more economists lowered their expectations for 2010 gross domestic product. Only 20% of prognosticators expect GDP will grow more than 3% this year. That’s down from May, when 24% expected such growth.
Still, the majority of economists in the survey expect GDP will top 2% for the year.
In the first quarter, GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.7%, according to government estimates.
Meanwhile, the economists warned that the debt crisis in Europe could hurt U.S. businesses in the months ahead.
Concerns about the fiscal health of several members of the European Union have roiled financial markets this year as countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal have been hit with downgrades of their sovereign debt ratings. The turmoil has raised concerns that a slowdown of the European economy could hurt the U.S. recovery.
"Credit and debt issues in Europe will likely negatively impact just over a third of the surveyed firms over the next three months," said Strauss.
A recent spate of dour reports on the job market, weakness in housing and consumer spending have stoked worries that the U.S. economy could sip back into recession later this year. Some economists have expressed concerns that the U.S. could be in for a prolonged period of slow economic growth.
Last week, the Federal Reserve released minutes from its June policy meeting that showed the central bank has developed a more pessimistic view for economic growth. The Fed expects GDP to grow between 3% and 3.5% this year, down from its earlier expectation of growth as high as 3.7%.
Polymer Group Inc. has started a major expansion of its Waynesboro, Va., plant, with the project representing a $65 million investment.
The Charlotte-based nonwovens manufacturer is installing production equipment at the site through a lease agreement provided by a joint venture between GE Capital and ING Capital.
“This expansion continues to build upon PGI’s ability to employ industry-leading technologies, combined with recent proprietary technological development,” says Daniel Guerrero, Polymer Group vice president and general manager of the U.S. region. “The installation of this advanced equipment enables PGI to deliver differentiated products to customers that will achieve enhanced and improved barrier, softness and opacity compared to the current marketplace capabilities for use in such products as diapers, and surgical gowns and drapes.”
The project will add 41 jobs to the Waynesboro operation paydayloans. The expansion is slated for completion in the second half of 2011.
Polymer Group chose the Virginia site for the project earlier this year, selecting it over the company’s Mooresville plant. Incentives may have been the key to the deal. Virginia promised $1.5 million in two grants, as well as job-training assistance for the new employees. The two operations competed for the project for at least six months.
The addition would have nearly doubled the size of the company’s 210,000-square-foot plant in Mooresville Business Park. The facility employs 115 workers.
The company (OTCBB:POLGA) is based in Harris Corners Business Park in north Charlotte. Polymer Group has 14 manufacturing and converting facilities in nine countries.
Brown & Brown Inc. bought the Meridian Group of New York Inc. and Eberhart & Co. Insurors Inc. late Friday for undisclosed terms.
Meridian Group, with annual revenue of $1.3 million, provides life, health and other employee benefits products and services to individuals, businesses, public entities, nonprofit organizations, unions and associations throughout New York state.
Meridian Group’s staff will combine its operations into Brown & Brown of New York’s Rome, N.Y., office.
Eberhart & Co. Insurors — doing business as Eberhart Co. of Roswell, Ga payday loans., with revenue of $1 million — will join Brown & Brown Insurance of Georgia’s existing office in Duluth. Eberhart Co. has served business and individual insurance needs in the Atlanta metropolitan area since 1969.
Daytona Beach-based Brown & Brown Inc. (NYSE: BRO) and its subsidiaries offer insurance and re-insurance products and services, as well as risk management, third party administration, managed health care, and Medicare set-aside services and programs.
The Obama administration says it is increasing border security and cracking down more on drug trafficking and smuggling from Mexico into Southwestern states such as Arizona.
On Friday, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke said the federal government has upped illegal drug case filings by 99 percent since 2008, filed 25,200 illegal immigration cases and boosted wiretaps by 50 percent for cases related to money shipped from Arizona to Mexico and other foreign locations.
On Monday, the White House released additional figures as administration officials met with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Attorney General Terry Goddard, Burke and other state officials.
The White House offered the following stats:
K9 patrol units along the border have been increased to 13 from five.
384 agents were added at Southwestern ports of entry along with five high-tech detection units to the six already deployed at Mexican border crossings.
$85 million in illicit cash was seized along the border over the last 12 months — a 22 percent jump from the preceding 12 months.
Federal agencies seized 1,404 firearms and 1.62 million kilograms of drugs along the border the past 12 months — increases of 22 and 14 percent, respectively.
Former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said more resources are being focused on border and immigration cases as well as crimes on Indian lands and white-collar and mortgage fraud crimes since Burke took over as federal prosecutor in 2009 and the Obama took office.
Charlton — now a private attorney for the law offices of Gallagher & Kennedy PA — served as U lowest fee payday loans.S. Attorney for Arizona from 2001 until the end of 2006. Charlton exited from that post as part of Bush administration purge.
After 9/11 there was a heavy focus of federal investigation into national security and potential terrorism cases, he said, adding the Bush administration also focused on child pornography.
He expects federal pursuit of child and illegal sex rings to continue under Obama. “It’s still a very serious problem,” he said. But he said the Obama administration appears to be moving more aggressively and with more resources on white collar and mortgage fraud cases as well as on the immigration front.
The statistics were released as Brewer and U.S. Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain press for more federal resources along the border. Brewer, in particular, has argued the state is under siege from drug cartels and smuggling rings and says more border walls, air patrols are needed.
“Administration officials continue to say that the border is as safe as it has ever been, yet the feds are posting signs 80 miles from the Arizona border warning Americans to stay away from our public lands,” Brewer said in a e-mail promoting her reelection bid. “We need action from the federal government not signs ceding sovereign U.S. territory to international drug cartels and human smugglers.”
Discount Windows & Doors has opened a showroom on Kamehameha Highway, next to King Nissan in Kaneohe.
The facility, at 45-564 Kamehameha Highway, is in addition to the company’s 4,000-square-foot office and warehouse space in North Kaneohe.
Spectrum Brands Inc., the Madison-based manufacturer of Rayovac batteries and Remington shavers, said Friday that shareholders have approved the company's proposal to buy Russell Hobbs Inc., marketer of the George Foreman and Toastmaster small appliance brands, for $661 million.
Spectrum (NYSE: SPB) said 96.38 percent of the company's outstanding shares have been voted to adopt the previously announced merger agreement. That includes shares held by its largest holder, Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I Ltd. and its affiliates.
The company now expects to close on the transaction June 16.
The merger of Miramar, Fla.-based Russell Hobbs and Spectrum Brands will create a new global consumer products company based in Madison with an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue.
As part of the transaction, when the deal closes the company expects to close on its refinancing of the Company's existing senior debt and a portion of Russell Hobbs' existing senior debt through a combination of a new $750 million term loan, new $750 million senior secured notes and a new $300 million asset-based lending revolving facility no teletrek payday advance. The refinancing is expected to provide an enhanced long term capital structure to support the combined company's strategic business objectives.
Russell Hobbs’ consumer brands include Black & Decker, George Foreman, LitterMaid and Toastmaster. Spectrum’s brands include Rayovac batteries and Remington shaving and grooming products, which have major production operations in Wisconsin.
Financial snapshot of banks with headquarters based in the St. Louis metro area
Ranked by assets as of March 31, 2009
Dollar figures are in thousands
RELATED: Banks based in St. Louis are turning profit again
NameTotal Assets at end of MarchAverage Assets during first quarterFirst quarter Profit (Loss)Return on Average Assets* (%)Total LoansProblem loansProblem loans / Total loans ** (%)Tier 1 Leverage Ratio *** (%) FIRST BK SOUTHWEST BK AN M&I BK ENTERPRISE BK & TR FIRST NB OF ST LOUIS BANK OF EDWARDSVILLE RELIANCE BK STIFEL B&T MIDWEST BANKCENTRE JEFFERSON B&TC BANK OF WASHINGTON EAGLE B&TC OF MISSOURI FIRST COLLINSVILLE BK ST LOUIS BK BUSINESS BK LINDELL B&TC SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL BK CASS COMMERCIAL BK FIRST NB IN STAUNTON CITIZENS NB ROYAL BK MO TRUMAN BK FRONTENAC BK PEOPLES B&TC FIRST COUNTY BK ROCKWOOD BK GERMANTOWN T&SB CARLINVILLE NB SAINT JOHNS B&TC FIRST NB OF WATERLOO UNITED BK OF UNION LIBERTY BK BANK OF SULLIVAN BANK OF O’FALLON CITIZENS CMNTY BK BREMEN B&TC BANK OF OLD MONROE BANK OF FRANKLIN CTY UNICO BK BRADFORD NB CHAMPION BK BELGRADE ST BK COMMUNITY FIRST BK FIRST ST BK OF ST CHARLES FARMERS & MERCHANTS BK COMMERCIAL BK CITIZENS BK PARKSIDE FNCL B&T TRIAD BK CONCORD BK MISSOURI BK THE NEW FRONTIER BK FIRST NB FORTUNEBANK MERAMEC VALLEY BK STATE BK OF WATERLOO JERSEY ST BK FARMERS ST BK OF HOFFMAN 1ST ADVANTAGE BK WESTBRIDGE BK & TR CO BANK OF KAMPSVILLE BANK STAR MIDWEST RGNL BK COMMUNITY BK OF TRENTON BANK OF BELLEVILLE VILLAGE BK BANK OF CALHOUN CTY SILEX BKG CO SUPERIOR BK CITIZENS ST BK BANK OF HILLSBORO FIRST CMNTY ST BK FIRST ILLINOIS BK STATE BK OF ST JACOB COLUMBIA NB FMB BK BANK OF MODESTO FARMERS ST BK CHESTERFIELD ST BK Sums * RETURN ON ASSETS payday loan lenders. Bank profit as a percent of assets. The higher the number, the better. In good times, the figure is usually above 1 percent.
* RETURN ON ASSETS. Bank profit as a percent of assets. The higher the number, the better. In good times, the figure is usually above 1 percent.
** PROBLEM LOANS TO TOTAL LOANS. The percentage of loans upon which payment is very delinquent or foreclosed upon. The lower the number, the better.
*** TIER 1 LEVERAGE RATIO. A measure of a bank’s capital adequacy. The number must be at 5 percent or better for the bank to be considered “well capitalized.”
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