The Palo Alto, Calif., company outlined plans for a factory that would employ up to 6,500 people and cover as many as 1,000 acres, including solar and wind farms to supply its power needs. It is evaluating sites in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, Tesla said in a regulatory filing.
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.
Democrats in California needed to pass cap and trade to find out what’s in it. At least that’s the take-away from state Senate president Darrell Steinberg’s epiphany in the Los Angeles Times this week.
American employers added a disappointing 74,000 jobs in December, a tally at odds with recent signs that the economy is gaining traction and moving beyond the supports put in place after the recession.
U.S. payrolls rose by 74,000 last month, the smallest monthly gain in three years, the Labor Department said Friday. The figure marked a sudden pullback from growth of 200,000 or more in the prior two months.
The Labor Department said the unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 7%, though the decline was largely the result of people leaving the workforce. Economists had expected a gain of 200,000 jobs and a 7.0% jobless rate, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
Pointing to the state’s large pension liabilities, bond costs and other expenses, the governor, a Democrat, described the state’s surplus as “rather modest” in an opening letter addressed to the legislature, according to a copy of the budget posted on the Sacramento Bee’s website. He didn’t give the surplus total in the letter. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office in November predicted a roughly $4.7 billion surplus by June 30.
Private-sector payrolls increased by 238,000 positions in December, according to the national employment report compiled by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody’s Analytics. The gain is the highest ADP estimate since November 2012.
The nation’s factories finished the year on a high note and look to be building momentum heading into 2014.
The U.S. economy expanded significantly faster than initially estimated in the third quarter as businesses fattened their inventories, a factor that is likely to weigh on growth in the year’s final quarter.
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.
Welcome to SolarCity, the latest booming green company that has never recorded a profit. The startup’s stock price has soared by 600% since its IPO last December—it closed on Monday at $57 a share—and spiked after the company announced a couple of weeks ago that it expects business to grow by 70% to 90% next year. Yet the company, based in San Mateo, Calif., and specializing in deploying rooftop panels, ended the first six months this year $61 million in the red. Ordinarily, that sort of number might disconcert investors. But SolarCity’s business model is powered by government subsidies, which also fueled the 500% stock run-up and turn to profit this year of the electric-car maker Tesla. Steering both companies is Elon Musk.
“The U.S. is overtaking Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, a startling shift that is reshaping markets and eroding the clout of traditional energy-rich nations.
U.S. energy output has been surging in recent years, a comeback fueled by shale-rock formations of oil and natural gas that was unimaginable a decade ago. A Wall Street Journal analysis of global data shows that the U.S. is on track to pass Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and gas combined this year—if it hasn’t already. “
“Private-sector employment gains picked up slightly in September, as businesses added 166,000 jobs, according to a hiring report that has taken on more importance as a timely measure of the labor market amid the likely delay of the government’s monthly statistics.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the monthly report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP -0.19%and forecasting firm Moody’s Analytics to show an increase of 178,000 jobs. The August ADP employment increase was revised to 159,000 from 176,000 reported a month ago.”
The disappointing jobs report released Friday leaves Federal Reserve officials without a clear-cut signal of an economy on the mend, creating a dilemma for the central bank as it contemplates pulling back on a landmark bond-buying program designed to stoke growth.
. . . But beneath such positive numbers lay evidence of a job market stuck in second gear. The government revised down its estimate for June and July hiring by a combined 74,000 jobs, and a disproportionate share of the jobs that are being added are in low-paying sectors such as restaurants and retail. At the recent pace of hiring, the economy won’t get back to prerecession levels of employment, adjusting for population growth, for more than eight years.