Nearly four-fifths of the state rebates went to households earning $100,000 or more, according to a state survey of buyers. Nearly half of those getting rebates for Tesla’s premium electric sedan earned at least $300,000.
In a conference call with oil industry analysts in late 2012, Mike Wirth, a Chevron Corp. executive, took stock of California’s greenhouse gas reduction policies and warned that the state’s plan to expand its controversial cap-and-trade program to vehicle fuels in 2015 would result in higher prices at the pump.
Gas prices continue to shoot up in the Sacramento region. The average price of a gallon of regular gas is $3.674, compared to $3.584 a week ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
In January, as businesses struggled through a weak post-holiday period in a month that already tends to be slow, industry sales slid by their largest margin in 18 months.
An economic recovery that looked poised to lift off is reverting to its characteristic sluggishness as gauges of shopping activity, job creation, wage growth and factory output flash yellow.
The Home Depot Inc. says it’s preparing to hire 80,000 workers as it prepares for spring, the company’s busiest selling season . . . The do-it-yourself giant’s hiring website currently lists 16,928 open positions nationwide, including 232 openings for part-time workers in California, 178 in Texas, 100 in New York,
Energy experts predict a 50-cent rise in prices over the next few weeks as supplies tighten — an annual event as refineries scale back production for maintenance, California converts to the more expensive summer blend of gasoline, more drivers hit the road and oil-exporting countries boost crude prices to around $100 a barrel.
A cost comparison of the staples of American diets shows that San Francisco prices are on par with those in Washington, D.C., a city with a more distant and tenuous connection to farmers.
Nonetheless, other numbers paint a mixed picture for a holiday spending season that began with a disappointing Black Friday and later focused on hopes that retail momentum would rise with last-minute spending.
The U.S. Census Bureau said retail and food services sales increased 3.9 percent compared with the previous October.
The company attributed a third consecutive drop in U.S. comparable-store sales to a laundry list of macroeconomic headwinds when it reported earnings last week. Wal-Mart, which forecast continued gloominess through year-end, told analysts it would watch to see if the federal health-care law would take yet another chunk out of customers’ pocketbooks.
Throughout this summer and fall, California’s gasoline prices have hovered about 40 to 45 cents per gallon above the national average. The difference has sometimes reached 50 cents.
A new report from the financial services firm anticipates the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year to be the slowest and most promotion-heavy since 2008, which was the first holiday season affected by the recession.
But an expected softening in October—amid a collapse in consumer confidence due to the government shutdown and weaker labor market—suggests a long-awaited pickup in economic growth may have to wait until next year.
California’s Internet sales tax has brought in more than 260 million dollars since it was implemented about a year ago.