On Tuesday January 4, 2011, 6:25 pm EST
Auto sales up for first
time since the recession
DETROIT (AP) -- Auto sales
rose in the United States last year for the first time since the recession.
They're still far from what they were just a few years ago -- but that's just
fine with the downsized auto industry, which can post profits even if they sell
millions fewer cars and trucks.
For the year, car and truck
sales came in at 11.6 million, up 11 percent from last year, automakers
reported Tuesday. For December alone, sales were 1.14 million, also up 11
percent from a year earlier.
While the figures have some
in the industry talking about a return to the glory days, it's a fragile idea.
Rising gas prices or more economic trouble could still shake the confidence of
American car-buyers.
But for now, executives are
optimistic about this year. General Motors, Ford and Toyota all predict sale
will come in at 12.5 million to 13 million for 2011. It will take years,
analysts expect, to get back to the peak sales of the middle of last decade --
more like 17 million.
Factory orders rise 0.7
percent in November
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Businesses ordered more factory goods in November, responding to stronger
consumer demand for household appliances, computers and furniture.
The Commerce Department
says that total orders increased 0.7 percent in November. That follows a 0.7
percent drop in October.
The overall figure was
pulled down by a drop in volatile transportation orders. Excluding aircraft and
autos, orders rose 2.4 percent -- the largest jump for that category in eight
months.
The November increase left
total orders at $424.5 billion. Economists consider that a healthy range for
manufacturing activity. It's 20.4 percent above the recession low, hit in March
2009.
Manufacturing activity has
expanded in every month since the recession officially ended in June 2009.
Analysts said November's increase in factory orders should translate into further
gains in production in 2011.
Unemployment rises in
two-thirds of metro areas
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Unemployment rates rose in more than two-thirds of the nation's largest metro
areas in November, a sharp reversal from the previous month and the most since
June.
The Labor Department said
Tuesday that unemployment rates rose in 258 of the 372 largest cities, fell in
88 and remained the same in 26. That's worse than the previous month, when
rates fell in 200 areas and rose in 108.
The economy is strengthening,
but employers have been reluctant to create jobs. Hiring will pick up in 2011,
but not enough to significantly lower the unemployment rate, economists
forecast.
Metro areas in states with
the weakest housing markets, such as California, Nevada, Florida and Georgia,
are seeing ongoing increases in unemployment. Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Francisco
and Miami all saw their rates rise. Construction jobs haven't returned. Real
estate agents and mortgage broker positions have also disappeared.
Surge in bankruptcies shows
signs of slowing
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The
growth in bankruptcies around the country slowed significantly in 2010 from its
breakneck pace in recent years, with about a dozen states recording a decline
in filings from consumers and businesses, according to an Associated Press
tally Tuesday.
Filings collected from the
nation's 90 bankruptcy districts showed 113,000 bankruptcies in December, down
3 percent nationwide from the same month a year ago. That followed a similar
year-over-year decline for the month of October. It had been four years since
an individual month showed such an improvement.
In total, the nation
recorded 1.55 million filings in 2010, an increase of 8 percent from 2009 and a
far slower growth rate than the 32 percent jump recorded in the year before and
the 33 percent jump the year before that.
Insurers take on Toyota in
acceleration lawsuits
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Hundreds of disgruntled drivers have sued Toyota Motor Corp. over its sudden
acceleration issues, hoping to get paid for their safety concerns with Toyota
vehicles. The Japanese automaker now faces a more formidable opponent that
legal experts say has plenty of time, money and resources to challenge it in court:
insurance companies.
Seven insurers filed a
lawsuit in Los Angeles last week, looking to recoup more than $230,000 to cover
crashes blamed on sudden acceleration. Allstate Corp. also sued Toyota late
last year.
While Toyota brushed off
the latest litigation and said disputes between automakers and insurance
companies are common, legal experts say the world's No. 1 automaker can't be
pleased that it's squaring off against an industry that knows its way around a
courtroom.
Breakup of gadget pioneer
Motorola is complete
NEW YORK (AP) -- Motorola,
the 82-year-old consumer electronics pioneer responsible for early televisions,
cell phones and even the first broadcast from the moon, split into two
companies Tuesday in a reflection of changing markets.
As separate companies --
Mobility, targeting consumers, and Solutions, for professionals -- the two will
have simpler stories to tell investors and a nimbler approach to developing
cutting-edge products such as tablet computers.
Sanjay Jha, CEO of the
consumer-focused Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., said in an interview that the
new company will benefit from a narrower focus, all the way up to the top
management and the board of directors.
Eurozone inflation above
bank target in December
LONDON (AP) -- Consumer prices
in the 16 countries that used the euro at the end of 2010 rose by their largest
amount for over two years during December, and inflation is now running above
the European Central Bank's target, official figures showed Tuesday.
Eurostat, the EU's statistics
office, said consumer price inflation jumped 2.2 percent in the year to
December, its highest level since October 2008. The increase from November's
1.9 percent rate was markedly ahead of expectations -- the consensus in the
markets was for a far more modest increase to 2 percent.
A more detailed breakdown
of the figures will be published later this month, but all indications are that
higher energy and commodity costs are likely to have been behind the bigger
than anticipated increase.
That is likely to stoke
fears at the central bank that inflationary pressures are increasing in the
eurozone at a time when a number of countries are embarking on deep austerity
programs in an attempt to appease the bond markets that they are getting a
handle on their debt burdens.
Fed minutes: Economy needs
bond-buying program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal
Reserve officials stuck with the pace of their $600 billion Treasury
bond-buying program last month because the economy wasn't improving fast enough
to make a noticeable dent in unemployment.
Spending by consumers and
businesses had improved heading into the final month of 2010, and Congress was
on the verge of enacting a tax-cut package that would bolster the economy, Fed
officials said. That made them more confident the economic recovery would gain
momentum, according to minutes of the Fed's closed door meeting on Dec. 14.
Risks still loomed, the
minutes said, particularly a weak housing market and spending cuts and layoffs
from state and local governments. So the Fed voted 10-1 to stick with its plan
to buy the bonds through June to try to lower interest rates, spur spending and
lift stock prices.
Obama to sign bill to
improve nation's food safety
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an
indication of coming tensions with the GOP-controlled House, President Barack
Obama on Tuesday was signing into law an overhaul of the nation's food safety
system as Republicans talked of withholding $1.4 billion needed to put the new
requirements into place.
Congress passed the bill at
the end of the year after several serious outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella
poisoning in peanuts, eggs and produce in the past few years. It would increase
inspections at food processing facilities and force recalls of tainted
products.
Obama made improving food
safety a priority shortly after taking office in 2009. But at a cost of $1.4
billion in new funding over five years, some Republicans who are looking to cut
federal spending say the new law may be unaffordable.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones Industrial
average rose 20.43 points, or 0.2 percent, to end the day at 11,691.18. The
broader S&P 500 index dipped 1.69 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at
1,270.20. The Nasdaq lost 10.27 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,681.25.
Benchmark oil for February
lost $2.17 -- more than 2 percent -- to settle at $89.38 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange after hitting $92.07 a barrel earlier in the day. It
last settled above $92 on Oct. 3, 2008, when it reached $93.88.
In other Nymex trading in
January contracts, heating oil fell 4.63 cents to settle at $2.5065 a gallon
and gasoline lost 1.33 cents to settle at $2.4140 per gallon. February natural
gas lost 1.9 cents to settle at $4.650 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
dropped $1.31 to settle at $93.53 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.