Business

165,000 Jobs Added In April, Jobless Rate Fell To 7.5 Percent

Mark Memmott, NPR — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:18:39 +0000

(Most recent update: 10 a.m. ET.)

The nation's jobless rate edged down to 7.5 percent in April from 7.6 percent in March and employers added 165,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning.

The news was better than economists were expecting.

Casinos in Texas? It Might Happen Sooner Than You Think

Bobby Blanchard — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:50:00 +0000

Texas voters would decide whether or not casinos would be allowed in the state, if state lawmakers approve a referendum that would amend the state Constitution.

Seeing Fewer Cars on the Road Today? Here's Why

Bobby Blanchard — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:03:42 +0000

If you’re going into work today, you must not have gotten the memo.

Today, many City of Austin employees and employees from some local business are partaking in Austin’s first “Work from Home Day." It's a citywide initiative to reduce the environmental impact of thousands of people driving to work.

Lawmakers Focus on Eagle Ford Shale

Mose Buchele, KUT News — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:42:38 +0000

In the latest report on state sales tax revenues, some towns are reporting huge increases in sales tax collections.

Asherton, for example, saw its January sales tax grow by 191 percent. Asherton is near the Eagle Ford Shale, an area being transformed by the oil and gas drilling boom.

Reports: Postal Service Will Move To Halt Saturday Mail

Mark Memmott, NPR — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:15:47 +0000

(We updated the top of this post at 10:37 a.m. ET.)

Calling it "absolutely necessary" if the U.S. Postal Service is going to stop losing billions of dollars a year and reach anything close to financial stability, Postmaster Gen. Patrick Donahoe confirmed Wednesday morning that USPS is moving to eliminate Saturday delivery of first-class mail.

"Beginning the week of Aug. 5 this year," Donahoe said, USPS will provide "six days of package delivery and five days of mail delivery.

Austin’s Economic Incentive Payments: $19 Million & Counting

Wells Dunbar, KUT News — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:40:00 +0000

Austin got a look at the return on its investments Thursday.

The city currently has 11 active economic incentive agreements in place – deals with companies like Visa and Apple stipulating that as long as a company meets negotiated hiring and spending goals, they’ll receive annual benefits from the city, often in the form of tax breaks. Total incentives, if honored over the course of their entirety, approach $73 million.

Facebook Unveils Graph Search, Adding A New 'Pillar' To Services

Bill Chappell, NPR — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:16:52 +0000

Users of Facebook will soon have a new search tool at their disposal, the leaders of the company announced Tuesday during a live event.

155,000 Jobs Added in December, Jobless Rate at 7.8 Percent

Mark Memmott, NPR — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:09:06 +0000

There were 155,000 jobs added to public and private payrolls in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning.

That's right in line with economists' expectations and is another sign of steady, though modest, growth in employment. In November, employers added an estimated 161,000 jobs. The average monthly gain in 2012 was 153,000 jobs, BLS says.

Fed Boosts Economic Efforts

Mark Memmott, NPR — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:04:46 +0000

Saying it is concerned that the economy won't be strong enough in coming months to keep adding jobs to the labor market, the Federal Reserve announced this afternoon that is increasing its efforts to give the economy a boost.

And in an unusually specific statement from the central bank, its policymakers said they expect to keep a key short-term interest rate at or near zero percent "as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5 percent."

In November, Part 2 of its three-part “United States of Subsidies” series to Texas. The article alleged that the state gives out $19.1 billion a year in business incentives, far more than any other state. (Disclosure: The Texas Tribune has a content partnership with The New York Times.)

What Happens If We Fall Off the 'Fiscal Cliff'?

Tamara Keith, NPR — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:53:46 +0000

Lines of communication remain open in an effort to avert the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff," according to the White House and House Speaker John Boehner.

If no deal is reached between now and the end of the year, would the consequences be that drastic?

To answer that question, let's imagine it's January and the nation has gone off the "fiscal cliff." You don't really feel any different and things don't look different, either.

118,000 Jobs Added to Payrolls Last Month, Report Signals

Mark Memmott, NPR — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:08:00 +0000

There were 118,000 jobs added to private employers' payrolls in November, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.

That's slower growth than in October, when ADP's employment measure grew by 157,000 jobs.

In its report, ADP quotes Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, as saying that "Superstorm Sandy [which struck in late October] wreaked havoc on the job market in November, slicing an estimated 86,000 jobs fr

Making Your Permanent Digital Records Not So Permanent

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:00:27 +0000

The Internet is forever — and so are texts, tweets and Facebook updates — but a startup has big ambitions to bring privacy and impermanence to online communication. The company, called Wickr, lets users decide how long a message lives.

The people behind Wickr found inspiration in 1960s-era TV and messages that self-destructed.

Why Mexico is the World's Biggest Exporter of Flat-Screen TVs

David Kestenbaum — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:50:46 +0000

Most of the news we hear about Mexico these days is about drug-related violence. But it turns out there's another, brighter story there: The country's economy has been growing at a solid pace for the past couple years, driven in large part by solid exports.

Among other things, Mexico is the world's largest exporter of flat-screen TVs. There are a lot of factories just south of the U.S. border, filled with workers putting together televisions.

Winning Powerball Tickets Sold in Arizona and Missouri; But Who Bought Them?

Mark Memmott, NPR — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:34:08 +0000

After all the hype and hoopla, millions of Americans (including us) are waking up this morning to learn that they aren't sudden millionaires.

Yes, there were winning tickets sold for Wednesday night's $580 million Powerball jackpot.

But there were only two tickets that correctly matched the numbers drawn: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and Powerball of 6.

The winners were sold in Arizona and Missouri.