News

The number of people making new jobless claims across the country dropped by 36,000 to 289,000, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Department of Labor. California saw a moderate increase in new claims.

Revenue at health-care and social-assistance companies climbed 4.2% in the fourth quarter from the prior three months, up sharply from the third quarter’s 0.3% growth, the Commerce Department said Wednesday in its Quarterly Services Survey. The data weren’t adjusted for seasonal variations or price changes.

California has achieved a great deal since 1970, including much cleaner air, water and more effective resource stewardship notwithstanding a population increase from approximately 19.9 million in 1970 to over 38 million by 2014. 2 Nevertheless, the state continues to face significant, and in many cases increasingly adverse educational and social equity challenges.

U.S. manufacturers expect sales to continue to grow this year, but fear the effects of rising health-care costs, a strong dollar and the West Coast port strike, according to a new industry survey.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $41.8 billion in January, down $3.8 billion from $45.6 billion in December, revised. January exports were $189.4 billion, down $5.6 billion from December. January imports were $231.2 billion, down $9.4 billion from December.

The trade deficit shrank to a seasonally adjusted $41.75 billion in January, the Commerce Department said Friday, as crude imports fell and created the lowest deficit for petroleum products in over a decade.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid last week rose to its highest level since May, but economists dismissed the increase as weather-related and said the jobs market remained solid.

Economic activity in the Twelfth District continued to improve moderately during the reporting period of early January through mid-February. Overall price inflation remained modest, while wage inflation was moderate. Retail sales and demand for business and consumer services increased moderately. Overall manufacturing activity picked up, while agricultural conditions were mixed. Real estate activity advanced, mainly in the multifamily construction sector. Lending activity increased modestly.

Jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 320,000 in the week ended Feb. 28, the most since May, from 313,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected claims of 295,000.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 212,000 jobs last month, a solid gain, though down from 250,000 in the previous month. January’s figure was revised up from 213,000.

The U.S. economy continued to expand across most of the country at the start of the year amid broad-based hiring and rising consumer spending, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of regional economic conditions.

Personal income increased $50.8 billion, or 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $52.6 billion, or 0.4 percent, in January, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $18.9 billion, or 0.2 percent.  In December, personal income increased $45.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, DPI increased $37.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, and PCE decreased $35.7 billion, or 0.3 percent, based on revised estimates.

Personal income rose less than expected while personal spending fell more than expected in January.

The U.S. economy cooled in the final months of 2014, a return to the moderate growth that has marked much of the recovery.

Driven by a tumble in oil prices since mid-2014, the consumer-price index fell 0.1% in January from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first year-over-year decrease since October 2009. Prices fell 0.7% from December.