TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Business Briefs

ADVERTISEMENT

Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2007

Nearly 100,000 Jobs Added

The Labor Department reported Friday that companies are still adding to their ranks - albeit at a slower pace - even with deepening troubles in the housing and credit markets.

Employers added a net 94,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month. That was down from a surprisingly strong gain of 170,000 jobs in October but was still sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate from rising. The jobless rate has held steady at 4.7 percent for three months in a row.

"The economy has been hit by some large juggernauts, but the labor market is holding together reasonably well," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Bank of America's Investment Strategies Group. "Today's report would suggest there is no need to panic about the economy."

Still, fallout from the housing collapse was painfully evident. Construction companies slashed jobs last month. So did mortgage companies, banks, real estate firms and manufacturers. Those losses, however, were more than offset by hiring gains elsewhere, including in health care, retail, hotels and motels, temporary help firms, computer services and the government.

Consumers Got The Blues

Consumers haven't felt this bad in 15 years, other than when the country was trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina, said a survey released Friday. Readings of consumer sentiment and consumer expectations hit lows last reached in October 2005 after the hurricane that forced more than 800,000 people to leave their homes. Before that, consumer sentiment hadn't been so low since 1992, when the nation was recovering from recession.

December's consumer sentiment index hit 74.5, down from the prior month's reading of 76.1, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey. Wall Street economists had expected December's sentiment at 75.0.

December's consumer expectations index was 63.2 - matching the October 2005 reading as the lowest level since 1992. Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist with Valhalla, N.Y.-based High Frequency Economics, said the expectations level hitting Katrina levels is bad news.

"Back then, sentiment rebounded quite quickly, but we can see no reason now for things to improve," Shepherdson wrote.

CompUSA Acquired; For Sale

CompUSA, the consumer-electronics retailer owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said Friday that it was acquired by restructuring firm Gordon Bros. Group, which plans to close or sell its 103 stores. CompUSA stores will remain open during the holiday season, the Dallas-based company said Friday. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The chain was founded in 1984.

A staff and wire report

Watch the Tribune's Business report at 5, 6 and 11 a.m. Tuesday to Friday and 9 a.m. Saturdays on WFLA-TV.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT