Showing posts with label slightly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slightly. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 29

Microsoft profit forecast slightly beaten

Microsoft profit forecast slightly beaten

Although the sales of Windows 8 is not as impressive as investors hope that revenue in Microsoft's Windows Division rose 24 percent over the previous year.

Microsoft said that it had more than 60 million copies of Windows 8 license. The revised system that puts car as its predecessor, Windows 7 on the same early sales after it came out in 2009.

Investors have already signaled their disappointment with Windows 8 and the surface. The overall market floats Redmond, Washington, the shares of the company around the same price as when these products were released three months ago, while later increased.

So far, tech earnings were mixed. On Tuesday, missed IBM profit and sales exceeded Wall Street expectations for the Apple sales forecasts on Wednesday, send the stock already squeezed even deeper in trading on Thursday.

Saturday, October 13

Jobless claims rise slightly, hiring at sluggish pace

CNBC's Rick Santelli breaks down the latest weekly unemployment numbers and discusses its impact on the markets and economy, with CNBC's Steve Liesman.

By NBC News staff and wire reports
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose slightly in the latest week, indicating a labor market that remains in the doldrums.

The Labor Department reported that new claims rose a seasonally-adjusted 4,000 to 367,000, while the four-week moving average, considered a more accurate gauge of labor market conditions, was flat at 375,000.

The data came a day after President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney squared off in their first debate, which focused mostly on the economy, and a day before the crucial monthly employment report from the government.

The level of jobless claims in the latest week indicates only modest hiring, far below the levels needed to put a dent in the 8.1 percent unemployment rate.

"They are not very inspiring. It is a very marginal reversal of last week's marginal declines. This suggests that the trend is still looking fairly stable. The labor market is improving but it is not really gathering direction for better or worse, it is still just plodding along," said economist Sean Incremona at 4Cast Ltd.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 370,0000 last week. It was the first time since December last year that the four-week average was unchanged.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors influencing the report and no states had been estimated.

'Discouraged' workers face tough road back to employmentDespite fears of tighter fiscal policy next January, there is little sign that companies are responding by laying off workers on a wide scale.

Last week's claims data fell outside the survey period for the September employment report, but applications dropped 18,000 from the first week of the month, signaling some improvement in the pace of job creation last month.

Employers are expected to have added 113,000 jobs to their payrolls in September, an increase from 96,000 in August, with the unemployment rate edging up by a tenth of a percentage point to 8.2 percent, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

The anticipated modest improvement in labor market conditions has also been telegraphed by increases in measures of manufacturing and service sector jobs in September. In addition, payrolls processor ADP on Wednesday reported better than expected private sector jobs gains in September.

Worries over the so-called fiscal cliff - automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts that will suck about $600 billion out of the economy next year if lawmakers fail to agree how to slash the budget deficit - are making businesses cautious about ramping up hiring.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid was unchanged at 3.28 million in the week ended September 22. It was the first time since December last year that so-called continuing claims were unchanged.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Monday, April 23

Consumer prices up slightly as electricity costs fall

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in March, coming in line with estimates. CNBC's Rick Santelli and Michael Darda, MKM Partners, discuss.


U.S. consumer prices rose modestly in March as falling electricity costs countered higher gasoline prices, boosting the view the U.S. Federal Reserve has room to provide more support for the economy if needed.


The Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index increased 0.3 percent after advancing 0.4 percent in February. That was in line with economists' expectations.


Outside the volatile food and energy category, inflation pressures appeared to be modest. Core CPI edged up 0.2 percent after gaining 0.1 percent in February.


The U.S. Federal Reserve has said it will probably hold interest rates super low into 2014 to help the economy, which is limping back from the 2007-2009 recession.


Amid recent signs of weakness in the labor market, investors are betting the Fed could unleash further monetary stimulus to boost growth, although comments by Fed officials this week suggested the central bank is on hold as it waits to see whether the recovery gains traction.


Last month, overall inflation was pushed up by gasoline prices, which rose 1.7 percent. That was a much more mild increase than the 6 percent gain in February.


But electricity prices fell 0.8 percent, the steepest decline since June.


Food prices climbed 0.2 percent last month.


Overall consumer prices rose 2.7 percent year-on-year, down from a reading of 2.9 percent in February.


In the 12 months to March, core CPI increased 2.3 percent after rising 2.2 percent in February. This measure has rebounded from a record low of 0.6 percent in October.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

Wednesday, January 25

Gallup: Slightly more thriving than struggling

Gallup: Slightly more thriving than struggling
Gallup


We may be living in difficult economic times, but a little more than half of all Americans are still considered to be thriving, according to a Gallup analysis.


Gallup finds that for 2011, 52.5 percent of Americans would be considered thriving based on its analysis of people’s perception of their own lives.


That’s actually a slightly lower percentage than in 2010, when 53.2 percent of Americans were thriving. But it’s an improvement over 2008 and 2009, when the economy was in worse shape than it is now.


Still, that doesn’t mean we should pop the champagne corks. Gallup said that 43.8 percent of the respondents are considered to be struggling, while about 3.7 percent ranked as suffering. Both of those percentages increased slightly over 2010.


Given the economic recession and aftermath we are still going though, it may come as a surprise that such a high percentage of Americans consider themselves to be doing well.


That may be partly because the metric asks respondents both how they are faring now and how they expect to be faring in five years. Respondents are considered to be thriving both if they rate their lives well now and if they expect things to be going well in the future. The pollsters then use the self-described rankings to label the respondents as thriving, struggling or suffering.


People who make more than $90,000 a year were much more likely to be described as thriving than those who make less money. Younger people also were more likely to be considered thriving than older people, according to Gallup.

Wednesday, July 27

Breakneck growth in China slows down slightly

BEIJING - China's economy grew at the slowest pace since 2009, but always still managed, faster than expected to expand in the second quarter. The growth eased fears of a hard landing and strengthened Beijing's determination to fight persistently high inflation.

China's Statistics Bureau said on Wednesday that the prices to stabilize the top priority remained, although a "complex and volatile" global economic growth, complications of the political decisions threat.

Gross domestic product in the second quarter grew by 9.5 percent over the previous year by more than the forecasts of economists for 9.4 per cent growth, supported by solid domestic consumption and investment.

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But that was still was the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2009, when the world economy from the worst recession in 80 years.

Some cooling erwarteten-and even willkommen--, because China raised interest rates and clamped down on bank lending to try the inflation to facilitate, a three-year high in June has taken. The stronger than expected numbers indicate GDP there that Beijing can have more room for dragging without slowing down the growth.

"These are very good numbers,", said Liu Li gang, an economist with ANZ in Hong Kong.

"This is perhaps the reason why the (Central Bank) last week increased interest rates." "They show that they fear no significant slowdown in the economy."

For investors worried that Beijing's pulling campaign too heavy a toll on the fastest growing major economy in the world could the figures offered some reassurance. Industrial production in June was also stronger than expected is growing at its fastest pace in more than a year.

Asian shares and metals all rose Australian dollars.

China's GDP in the April to June rose 2.2 percent compared to the first quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, a slight revival in pace of 2.1 percent in the first quarter.

Chinese officials noticed hawks note in the last days, bearing in mind the risk that inflation could fan unrest overheating.

Although many economists, that overall inflation pressures easier in the second half of the year believe prices are increased for popular staples such as pork and it takes time for them to go back.

The Central Bank and the forecast expected a narrow majority of analysts to raise interest rates again this year increasing Bank reserve ratios, a Reuters poll last week.

Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for China's Statistics Bureau, said inflation stabilization was the main objective, and politics would be "targeted, flexible and effective," in reference to the recent comments by Prime Minister Jiabao Wen.

"It is not easy and fast to maintain economic growth, when the overall situation is complex and volatile China has done a great job," Sheng said.

Europe's sovereign debt troubles and a decline in the US economy means that two of the best export customers in China have to contend. In June, orders slipped export a manufacturing survey showed already in July, the questions about China's growth prospects raised.

But Wednesday figures suggested that domestic demand remains robust. Final consumption growth have 4.6 percentage points to the first half, while easily exports subtracts, Bureau said China's statistics.

Analysts say China's economy is a rate would be with the the equivalent of adding the Switzerland GDP for the 6-trillion dollar economy to grow well above 9 percent this year.

Still say weak demand growth to slacken can cause in China's Western export markets in the third quarter from the second, they.

Rebalancing
Industrial production rose 15.1 percent in June a year earlier, the strongest growth since May 2010. It also marked a sharp hope by May 13.3 percent and beat market expectations of 13.1 percent.

The growth figures underlined the resilience of the world's second largest economy, thanks to the rapid urbanisation of the country, and could soothe investor concerns about a sharp slowdown in the global demand for commodities delle would.

An economist with IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters said "The data should also help to which wild fears about an economic collapse in China to dispel", George Worthington.

Capital investment grew 25.6 per cent in the first six months a year earlier, while 16.8 percent expanded the retail sales, show that domestic demand still relatively well despite tightening policy stopped.

"The economic growth data are very optimistic and industrial production is clearly stronger than expected," said Xu Biao, an economist with China Merchants Bank in Shenzhen. "It's all about the expectations as Chinese imports and (purchasing managers survey) were quite weak in June."

Increased demand at home helps to isolate not only China from the global turmoil, but offers a bit of a buffer for the rest of the world and evidence that good makes Beijing promise from export-oriented growth. But it can increase also price pressure.

However, inflation of Beijing remains top priority policies should avoid that economic growth, said large swings Premier Wen in comments released on Tuesday.

In June, he signals that the country would fight in the year 2011 to meet its average inflation target 4 percent. Monthly consumer price numbers show public inflation 5.4 per cent in the first half of the year.

Academic consultant of the people's Bank of China was quoted by State television on Wednesday that the rate of inflation may have reached in June, when it hit 6.4 percent.

Li Daokui, Member of the Central Bank of monetary policy Committee, said that the full-year inflation rate could be around 4.8 per cent.

Last Wednesday, China increased rates by 25 basis points-the third such as this year-increase the deposit took the a year discount rate by 3.5 percent.

The Central Bank has raised benchmark interest rates five times since October and banks required reserve ratio-its bisher-preferred political tool - nine times removed.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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