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U.S. economic growth was a touch higher than previously estimated in the third quarter, but below expectations as a rise in the pace of inventory accumulation was offset by downward revisions to consumer spending, a government report showed on Wednesday.
Gross domestic product growth was revised up to an annualized rate of 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent, the Commerce Department said. Get the full story »
In a bit of news that probably surprises no one, Americans made less money last year than they did the year before, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday morning. Total compensation of U.S. workers shrank 3.2 percent in 2009. Blame it on declines in manufacturing and construction industries, the bureau said.
Just to be clear, compensation is the income companies pay employees for their work, as well as supplements such as contributions to pension and insurance funds. Employers, not employees, report compensation. So if you’re getting paid by your father to pick up leaves clogging the gutter in the rain, you probably aren’t counted in this study.
The New Year’s celebrations will barely be over before financial advisers face their first challenge for 2011 — new rules requiring brokerages to tell Uncle Sam how much investors paid for stocks.
The cost-basis reporting rules are designed to ensure people do not understate investment gains or overstate investment losses to minimize their taxes. Get the full story »
U.S. communications regulators adopted Internet traffic rules on Tuesday that prevent providers from blocking lawful content but still let them ration access to their networks.
The rules aim to strike a balance between the interests of Internet service providers, content companies and consumers, but some industry analysts think a court challenge is still likely. Get the full story »
U.S. automakers and engine makers sued the Environmental Protection Agency Monday over its decision to allow higher blends of ethanol for newer cars, saying it could cause confusion at the pumps and damage engines in older vehicles.
The suit asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to send the decision back to the EPA and asks the court to review whether the decision violates the Clean Air Act. Get the full story »
Gov. Pat Quinn said Monday that SunCoke Energy received a $4.8 million incentive package from the state to move its headquarters from Knoxville, Tenn., to Arboretum Lakes in Lisle.
The package includes corporate income tax credits and funds from the Employer Training Investment Program. SunCoke said it is investing $6.6 million on the relocation project. Get the full story »
Boeing Co. said it won a contract valued at about $1 billion to build a communication-satellite system for Mexico’s government that will be used for national-security and civil-communications needs.
The system will consist of three satellites, two ground sites and related network operations systems and other equipment. Get the full story »
President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from tax cuts for millionaires and the middle class to longer help for the jobless. Get the full story »
In a move to increase access to preventive treatment among those for whom health care is a challenge, the Obama administration and Walgreens announced on Friday a partnership to provide vouchers for free influenza shots to uninsured Americans and others with inadequate benefits.
The Deerfield-based drugstore giant will provide more than $10 million worth of vouchers while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help distribute the shots to up to 350,000 people in 15 major U.S. markets including Chicago through its network of regional health administrators that work with public health agencies. Get the full story »
The incoming chairman of the U.S. congressional committee investigating Johnson & Johnson’s recalls of consumer products Friday identified the previously unnamed third-party manufacturer behind last week’s Rolaids recall.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, in a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, said investigations by his staff revealed North Carolina-based Best Sweet as the company contracted by J&J to produce widely used Rolaids antacid products. Get the full story »
U.S. regulators have opened a new line of inquiry in their mortgage foreclosure probe and are asking big Wall Street banks about the beginning stages of mortgage securitization, two sources familiar with the probe said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission launched the new phase of its investigation by sending out a fresh round of subpoenas last week to big banks including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., the sources said. Get the full story »
The U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are expanding their probe into possible kickbacks on the part of computer maker Hewlett Packard Co., a regulatory filing said.
The agencies have been investigating the Palo Alto, Calif., company for possibly bribing authorities in Russia and Germany. Now, the agencies are also investigating similar improprieties in Austria, Serbia, the Netherlands and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Get the full story »
A test of the sole U.S. defense against long-range ballistic missiles failed again Wednesday, the second failure in a row involving the system managed by Boeing Co., the Defense Department said.
“The Missile Defense Agency was unable to achieve a planned intercept of a ballistic missile target during a test over the Pacific Ocean (Wednesday),” Richard Lehner, an agency spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. No preliminary explanation of the failure was provided. Get the full story »
Enough uncertainty surrounds silver-colored metal dental fillings with mercury that U.S. regulators should add more cautions for dentists and patients, a U.S. advisory panel said Wednesday.
While past data have backed the cavity treatment, the fillings should be accompanied by warnings about unknown risks for vulnerable people such as children and pregnant women, the Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside advisers said. Get the full story »
The government has received another $2.1 billion in repayments from General Motors Co. Get the full story »
