Welcome to Finance World

Macy’s Inc. reported a 38 percent increase in its first-quarter profit as the department store chain continues to reap benefits from its move to tailor its fashions to local markets.

The earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations. But its shares fell more than 4 percent in morning trading Wednesday as Macy’s failed to make a conforming boost in its earnings guidance for the year.

That spooked investors who are worried that consumer spending is slowing amid a choppy recovery.

Macy’s, which also operates the upscale Bloomingdale’s chain, said that its net income rose to $181 million, or 43 cents per share, for the three-month period ended April 28. That’s up from $131 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 4.3 percent to $6.14 billion from $5.89 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $6.14 billion.

“The momentum in our business at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s continued to build in the first quarter, with sales and earnings exceeding our expectations going into the year,” Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “The quarterly data clearly demonstrates the strength of our results as we continue to implement our strategies.”

Macy’s is the first in a series of major retailers reporting first-quarter results that should offer clues into consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. Analysts will be carefully studying the reports because the economy is at a critical juncture.

A flurry of economic data has sparked worries over a spring slowdown for the third year in a row. Companies have slowed their hiring in March and April. The stock market has lost momentum as the European debt crisis accelerates. And housing remains weak. April’s sales reports from retailers, including from Macy’s, also showed a pullback from shoppers but warm weather and an early Easter helped to pull sales forward. Analysts believe that May results will offer more clarity on the consumers’ mindset.

Macy’s has been able to deftly navigate its way through the recession and a slow recovery by embracing its own initiatives. The chain has benefited from the strategy Lundgren conceived to tailor merchandise to local markets as consumer spending slowed down in 2007. A better trained sales force also helped. The company has also locked in exclusive brands including its Material Girl fashion collection, created by pop star Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, and Tommy Hilfiger sportswear.

Macy’s revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 4.4 percent for the quarter, though it had a weak finish to the period. The measure was up 1.2 percent for April. Rival Kohl’s posted a meager 0.2 percent increase for the quarter. J.C. Penney is expected to post a decline for that measure as it is in the midst of overhauling a new pricing strategy, launched Feb. 1. With the pricing strategy, Penney got rid of hundreds of sale events and instead is focusing on everyday prices and deeper promotions that last an entire month.

Investors were hoping that Macy’s would benefit from rival Penney’s period of transition since the new pricing will take time to resonate with shoppers, who are used to racks of discounts. Penney’s pricing strategy is part of an overall transformation spearheaded by its new CEO Ron Johnson.

Still, Macy’s only slightly increased its annual guidance for revenue at stores open at least a year. It now expects that figure to be up 3.7 percent, compared with its earlier guidance of 3.5 percent.

Macy’s reaffirmed its earnings guidance for the year of $3.25 to $3.30 per share. Analysts had expected $3.39 per share, according to FactSet.

Macy’s shares fell $1.60, or 4.1 percent, to $37.91 in morning trading. They peaked for the past year at $42.17 a week ago. They traded as low as $22.66 in mid-August.

Source

Get free instant insurance rates for universal, whole, variable and term life insurance from the nation's leading Insurance companies.

UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. with more information.

One of the region’s biggest casinos is about to get a new owner.

Penn National Gaming on Monday announced a deal to buy Harrah’s Maryland Heights Casino from Caesars Entertainment for $610 million. The purchase, expected to close by the end of the year, will give the fast-growing Pennsylvania gaming company a deeper foothold in the $1.1 billion St. Louis casino market, eight years after it bought locally based Argosy Gaming.

“The planned addition of Harrah’s St. Louis will further expand Penn National’s regional operating platform with a facility that is extremely well-positioned in a large metropolitan market,” said Penn CEO Peter Carlino.

The casino, which opened on the Missouri River in 1997, is the region’s second-busiest by revenue. Gamblers spent $268.4 million there last year, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission, down 1.2 percent from 2010.

It has a 500-room hotel, 4,600-car parking garage and 2,600 slot machines. But the property has seen relatively little investment in recent years, even as new rivals around the region have opened up and old ones have expanded.

Its parent company, Caesars, was acquired by private equity firms in 2008, and went public in February. Chief executive Gary Loveman has said he hoped to sell some properties to fund new projects.

“The sale of this property exemplifies our strategy to maximize returns from our mix of assets through investments in new markets as well as occasional divestitures,” he said. “We are committed to expanding our distribution network into growth markets that have the potential for high returns no fax payday loan.”

While Caesars is selling, Penn has been growing.

The company bought a casino in Las Vegas last year and has opened new properties in Maryland, Ohio and, just this February, Wyandotte County, Kansas. It has had a presence in the St. Louis market — owning the Argosy Alton — since buying Argosy Gaming in 2004 for $1.4 billion.

Having two casinos in the St. Louis market could help Penn save money on marketing and back office costs. But spokesman Joe Jaffoni said that synergy was not a major factor in the deal.

“(Maryland Heights) is just a good asset. It’s got a good long-term operating history,” he said. “It’s pretty much in the Penn National sweet spot.”

After the sale goes through, Penn will re-brand the casino to its “Hollywood” brand, which it uses at 11 other properties and “will invoke the glamour of 1930s art deco Hollywood.”

The deal will need approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission, which vets all casino-license holders in the state. Penn already owns a property in Kansas City, so that process may be quicker than if it were a new company to the state.

The casino employed nearly 1,900 people in 2010, according to Maryland Heights financial documents. There was no word Monday on how the sale might affect workers there.

Source

Cash advance loans and personal loans available today. Apply now and receive up to $1500 fast cash advance in as little as 1 hour, direct lenders.

Oil is now below $100 per barrel following a disappointing U.S. jobs report and warnings of a weakening world economy.

It’s the first time oil has dropped below $100 since February 13. Benchmark crude hit $99.99 in morning trading.

Prices are falling as Western nations plan talks with Iran over its nuclear program, easing fears of a protracted standoff in the Middle East.

Economists are also increasingly focused on weakening oil demand. American oil consumption has dropped 5.3 percent in the first quarter. World oil supplies are also growing.

Oil has crossed the $100 mark 21 times during the past year. It rose as high as $113.93 per barrel last April and fell as low as $75.67 per barrel on Oct. 4.

Source

European political uncertainty and another sign of a slowdown in the Chinese economy pushed stocks down Monday, with the three major U.S. indexes falling more than 1% before rebounding somewhat in afternoon trading.

Investors reacted to news that French President Nicolas Sarkozy came in second place in the first round of elections there behind Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who has been openly hostile to EU austerity measures.

Plus, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte resigned, putting that country’s prized AAA rating in jeopardy.

News of a slowdown in China’s manufacturing sector also exacerbated investors’ skittishness at the start of what will be a busy week on the economic and earnings front.

"The events over the weekend re-ignited concerns that the European community is going to have trouble working out a coordinated plan for austerity," said Douglas DePietro, head of equity sales trading at Evercore.

The Dow Jones industrial average () ended the day down 102 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 () shed 12 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq () lost 30 points, or 1%.

In the U.S., Wal-Mart (, Fortune 500) dragged down the Dow after it was hit by allegations that top executives in its Mexican division attempted to conceal a widespread bribery scheme.

Shares closed down nearly 5%, and shares of its publicly traded Mexico unit dropped nearly 12%. The company says it is investigating the allegations.

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Friday, as investors welcomed another round of strong earnings from corporate America and positive news out of Europe. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished lower for a third straight week.

Europe: French President Sarkozy, one of the architects of the European agreement to avert sovereign debt default, lost the first round of elections and will face Hollande in a May 6 runoff.

Europe: ‘Dark clouds on the horizon’

Meanwhile, the Dutch Prime Minister’s resignation prompted new elections, after one of his coalition partners in the government withdrew due to negotiations over the 2013 budget. This could place the Netherlands’ AAA credit rating at risk, according to Kathleen Brooks, research director of Forex.com.

"Holland was once considered a ’safe’ triple A nation, however, that may not be the case," Brooks wrote in a note to clients Monday. "The Netherlands has overtaken France as the largest political risk this week."

The latest reading on eurozone manufacturing also fell unexpectedly Monday to the lowest level since November, a sign that the 17-nation block has fallen further into recession.

Worries that the problems in Europe are still not over were further driven home by Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde warned at meetings of the IMF and World Bank over the weekend that the "dark clouds on the horizon" for the global economy threatened the "light recovery blowing in a spring wind."

European stocks ended sharply lower on Monday. Britain’s FTSE 100 () shed 1.85%, while the DAX () in Germany plunged 3.4% and France’s CAC 40 () dropped 2.8%.

World markets: Fueling investor concerns about the global economy was a preliminary reading on Chinese manufacturing released early Monday, showing a contraction for the second straight month.

Asian markets ended lower across the region. The Shanghai Composite () shed 0.8%, the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong closed down 1.8% and Japan’s Nikkei () slid 0.2%.

Companies: It was a busy merger Monday with two deals announced ahead of the open. Dow component Pfizer (, Fortune 500) reached an agreement to sell its baby formula business to Nestlé () for $11.85 billion in cash. And AstraZeneca () announced it is buying Ardea Biosciences (), a California-based biotechnology company, for $1.3 billion, or $32 a share — a 54% premium from Friday’s closing price.

On Monday afternoon, Facebook announced that it would spend $550 million to buy part of Microsoft (, Fortune 500)’s patent portfolio that it acquired from AOL () two weeks ago for $1 billion.

Xerox (, Fortune 500), ConocoPhillips (, Fortune 500), and Kellogg (, Fortune 500) released first-quarter results ahead of the opening bell.

Xerox reported adjusted earnings of 23 cents a share, unchanged from a year earlier and matching forecasts. Its shares spiked following the report, but closed up only slightly. ConocoPhillips posted improved earnings of $2.02 a share, but it fell short of forecasts of a $2.08 a share. Its shares lost 0.8%.

Kellogg’s shares plummeted 6% after the cereal company cut its outlook citing the slowdown in Europe.

Can Netflix pull a rabbit out of its hat?

Shares of Netflix () dropped nearly 14% in after hours trading on a weak outlook for the current quarter. Netflix managed to beat analysts’ estimates but that wasn’t enough to help the stock. The company reported a first quarter loss of 8 cents per share better than forecasts for a 27 cents per share loss.

Currencies and commodities: One piece of good news for the U.S. economy is that average gas prices continued to retreat farther away from the $4 level.

The biweekly Lundberg Survey marked its first decline of the year, while the daily survey from AAA showed its seventh straight decrease, further raising hopes that gas prices might have already peaked for the year.

Gas prices keep easing away from $4

Oil for June delivery fell 77 cents to $103.11 a barrel.

The dollar gained strength against the euro and the British pound, but slipped against the Japanese yen.

Gold futures for June delivery lost $10.20 to $1,632.60 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher, pushing the yield down slightly to 1.93%.  

Source

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is demanding tougher anti-corruption efforts amid a huge political scandal over a now-suspended Politburo member whose wife has been named a suspect in the murder of a British businessman.

Wen’s message, published Monday, differed little from previous calls to fight endemic corruption. But it comes amid a nationwide drive to support the Communist Party’s decision to oust Bo Xilai from key positions and launch an investigation into what are described as serious breaches in discipline.

Media reports have raised questions about whether he tried to abuse his power to quash the investigation into his wife, Gu Kailai. Gu and a household employee are being investigated over the suspected murder of the Briton Neil Heywood.

There also have been strong suspicions that Bo, 62, grew fabulously wealthy through his ability to approve investments and make political appointments, although he has not been directly accused of any graft.

Wen wrote in an essay published in the party’s main theoretical journal, Qiushi, that despite a series of measures enacted to curb corruption, greater determination and more effective anti-corruption tools are still needed.

Greater transparency and a reduction in the concentration of powers among some government departments is also needed to allow effective citizen supervision, Wen said.

“We need to deeply acknowledge that the greatest threat to the ruling party is corruption,” Wen wrote.

Wen did not mention Bo by name or refer to the case directly. However, Wen has been the only top official to speak publicly about the matter, saying at his annual news conference last month that Chongqing officials need to understand its seriousness and put their house in order.

Also Monday, party newspaper Guangming Daily published the latest in a series of state media editorials calling on readers to support action against Bo and his wife and not to believe speculation that the politician’s sidelining is linked to infighting among top leaders.

“Handling the serious breach of discipline is a measures embraced by the whole of the party and so-called ‘inner-party conflict’ has nothing to do with it,” the editorial said.

Bo was once considered a leading candidate for the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee when seven new members are expected to be picked at a party congress in the fall, in the first step in a generational handover of power to younger leaders.

However, his removal as Chongqing’s Party Secretary on March 15 and suspension of his membership in the Politburo last week have effectively ended his political prospects and he could face trial no fax payday advance.

A leaked transcript of a party official’s briefing on the Bo matter, widely reported last month on Chinese online news sites, said that Bo’s former police chief accused him of trying to halt an investigation into a family member, although the statement did not specify which member or for what crime. State media has since promised a thorough investigation into Bo, stressing that no one is above the law and no party member can interfere with police investigations.

Bo is the first Politburo member to be removed from office in five years and the scandal kicked up rumors of a political struggle involving Bo supporters intent on derailing succession plans calling Vice President Xi Jinping to lead the party for the next decade. Such allegations are fed by the same secrecy, political privilege and lack of outside supervision that are blamed for making high-level corruption such a major problem.

Efforts to require leading officials to declare their assets have found little traction while rules prohibiting officials and their family members from using political connections for personal gain are routinely flouted.

Bo was fired after Chongqing’s former chief of police, Wang Lijun, made an extraordinary visit to the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chongqing in early February. Wang is believed to have expressed his suspicions about the November death of Heywood to the Americans, who then tipped-off British diplomats who formally requested that China further investigate. The party last week said Heywood previously had a close business relationship with Gu and the couple’s son, Bo Guagua, who attended schools in Britain, but that the ties had recently soured.

Wang was taken into custody and flown to Beijing after leaving the consulate on Feb. 6 and has not been heard from since. Bo and Gu are believed to be under some form of detention in Beijing but no details have been released on the state of the investigation or a possible trial.

Asked Monday about the Heywood case, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said that it was being handled under Chinese law but would take time to investigate fully.

Source

TORONTO

European stocks slipped Friday on weak Chinese economic data and persistent tensions in eurozone debt markets, while Asian markets were buoyed by a botched North Korean missle test.

Concerns about the prospects for global groth remained the market focus after official data in China showed its economy grew at an 8.1 percent pace in January-March, its slowest in nearly three years.

Although Asian investors brushed off the news on hopes the country would provide more economic stimulus, European markets gave it more weight. As the world’s largest exporter, China is a bellwhether for global economic growth, which European countries desperately need to heal their public finances.

France’s CAC-40 dropped 1.1 percent to 3,233.49, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.99 percent to 6,676.32. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.57 percent to 5,677.95.

“Unimpressive macro newsflow continued, which has kept concerns about global economic prospects at the forefront of the market’s mindset,” Credit Agricole analysts said.

Helping to weigh on European stocks was continued pressure in bond markets, with yields on Spanish debt inching higher, a sign of investor unease over the country’s financial future.

U.S. stocks were also poised to fall on the open. Dow futures were down 0.4 percent to 12,904 while the broader S&P 500 futures fell 0.4 percent to 1,381.10.

In Asia, markets mostly closed higher as traders were reassured by news that a North Korean rocket exploded soon after takeoff. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.1 percent to 2,008.91.

Tensions had risen as North Korea pushed ahead with the launch despite protests from the U.S., South Korea and other countries that deemed it a test of missile technology. Pyongyang said it was to put into orbit a satellite commemorating the anniversary of its founder’s birth.

Mainland Chinese shares were higher as regional investors saw the GDP figures as proof that the economy would avoid a brusk slowdown and that authorities might clear further measures to boost growth. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent to 2,359.16. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 950.91.

“The GDP data is within earlier expectations and both policy and the economy are stable. Even if the slowdown is obvious, growth is still above the government’s target,” said Li Jianfeng, an analyst at Caida Securities, based in Shanghai. The government’s annual growth target is 7.5 percent.

Overall, there was a sense of confidence that China is managing to steer the economy into a slower growth track without veering toward a ‘hard landing.’

“Chinese policymakers likely are neither as asleep at the wheel nor as paralyzed by political indecision as global investors seem recently to be fearing,” Michael Kurtz of Nomura in Hong Kong said in a report.

In currency markets, the euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3154 and the dollar inched up to 80.94 Japanese yen.

Concerns persist that high energy prices _ driven in part by unrest in the Middle East _ could weigh on any economic recovery. Benchmark oil was down 45 cents to $103.19 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by 94 cents to finish at $103.64 on Thursday.

Source

Investor fear calmed on both sides of the Atlantic on Wednesday, one day after the worst plunge on Wall Street this year.

In the United States, Alcoa reported a surprise profit after the stock market closed on Tuesday, raising hope that corporate earnings may not be as weak as analysts think. More reports will trickle out over the next few weeks.

And in Europe, borrowing costs for Spain edged down after nearly reaching 6 percent the day before. Seven percent is generally considered the point at which countries must seek bailouts.

The result was a U-turn on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 100 points in early trading, to 12,815. It had a 214-point drop Tuesday, its biggest this year and the fifth straight day of declines.

European markets rose, too. Stocks climbed roughly 1 percent in the major capitals after losing 2 to 3 percent the day before. The dollar and Treasury prices fell.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 13 points to 1,371. The Nasdaq composite index re-crossed the closely watched 3,000 mark, rising 26 points to 3,017.

Alcoa’s stock soared 8 percent in the morning, investors’ first chance to react to its report that it had turned a quarterly profit and handily beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts, who were predicting a loss. Since Alcoa is the first company in the Dow to report earnings, its results have a greater ability to propel the market than companies that report later.

Investors on Wednesday seemed to latch onto a few pieces of good news out of Europe. Spain’s borrowing rate on its 10-year bonds dropped back to 5.87 percent, down from Tuesday’s four-month high of 5.93 percent. Seven percent is usually considered the point at which a country can longer afford to borrow money.

But there were other signs that problems in Europe are still hibernating rather than solved. Spain’s borrowing costs are still dangerously high. Italy sold 12-month bonds but was forced to pay more than double the interest rate compared to last month, a concession to investors who are nervous about Europe’s health. Even Germany, whose bonds are considered a much safer investment, struggled in its own debt sale. Germany failed to sell all the 10-year bonds that it intended to on the open market.

Upcoming elections in Greece and France also threaten to unravel some of the uneasy peace that has been reached between the weak and the strong countries in Europe. Opposition candidates have promised they won’t go along so easily with the European deals that have been hammered out calling for weaker countries like Greece to cut spending if they are to continue to get rescue funds. Uncertainty in Greece went to a new level Wednesday when the country announced it will hold parliamentary elections months ahead of schedule.

In Cleveland, Planned Financial Services CEO Frank Fantozzi hoped that Alcoa’s good earnings portended more strong reports on line pay day loans. But he was still keeping a close eye on Europe.

“You have people kind of on pins and needles right now,” Fantozzi said. “Europe is spiraling into recession. The question is, is it going to ripple across the Atlantic to the United States.”

The Dow’s 550-point plunge of the previous five days is small potatoes compared to last summer’s frightening swings, including an eight-day plunge when the market shed 858 points as Congress bickered about government debt limits and the S&P prepared to downgrade the U.S. government’s debt rating.

In recent weeks, Europe’s debt crisis and concerns about U.S. earnings haven’t been the only problems. There are also signs that jobs growth is slowing and that the Federal Reserve is disinclined to pump more money into the economy. Some of the sell-off is also probably from investors trying to get out of the market now with their first-quarter gains still intact. If the Dow closes higher today, it will be the first time since April 2 and only the second gain since the second quarter began.

Despite the uncertain second quarter, the first quarter was stellar. The market rose steadily, and that has fueled its ability to handle recent negative news.

“It’s like a person,” Fantozzi said. “If you’re feeling good overall and a couple negative things happen, you just shrug it off. If you’re feeling lousy overall and then you get some good news, you still feel lousy.”

Investors remain concerned that high gas prices could rekindle a recession, forcing companies to raise prices and crimping household budgets.

Oil prices inched up toward $102 per barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reversing Tuesday’s decline. Though they’re down from the nearly $110 per barrel reached last month, they’re still above October’s price of $75.

The rising prices are partly because of international tension over Iran’s nuclear program, with new talks scheduled to begin Saturday. Iran, which has already cut off shipments to several European countries, said Wednesday it had stopped shipping to Germany.

Among stocks making big moves:

_Avon rose nearly 3 percent, two days after naming a new CEO that it hopes will turn around a company plagued by bribery allegations and an unwanted takeover bid.

_Owens-Illinois Inc., which makes glass containers for the food and beverage industries, jumped 10 percent. The company said it expects its earnings per share to surge 35 percent because of more productive manufacturing methods and cost cuts.

Source

China swung to a surprise trade surplus of $5.35 billion in March as exports grew faster than expected and import growth eased from a 13-month peak, customs data showed on Tuesday.

Import and export growth were both down sharply from February’s Lunar New Year distorted surge, and within sight of the government’s target of 10 percent expansion for 2012.

The data reinforced the view of most analysts that China’s trade-sensitive economy is set for a soft landing, with GDP growth likely to have eased for a fifth successive quarter to 8.3 percent in the first three months of 2012 and remaining on course for its slowest year of expansion in a decade.

“The trade data looks okay… it shows the global economy is recovering, albeit slowly,” said Zhou Hao, an economist with ANZ Bank in shanghai.

“Given that China had a trade surplus in the first quarter versus a deficit in the Q1 last year, it indicates a positive contribution to GDP growth. We reckon Q1 GDP growth should be 8.6 percent. I think the market is a bit too pessimistic about China’s economy.”

Import growth of 5.3 percent in March compared with economists’ expectations of 9.0 percent and February’s 39.6 percent growth, while export growth of 8.9 percent compared with a consensus call for 7.2 percent, still a marked easing from February’s 18.4 percent rate.

The two numbers left the overall trade balance in surplus, reversing February’s $31.5 billion run of red ink on the balance of payments and confounding market expectations of a $1.3 billion deficit.

But despite the unexpected return to surplus, the relatively slack pace of export growth may still concern investors who believe the risks of recession in the debt-ridden European Union — China’s top export market — could be a dangerous drag on growth in the world’s number 2 economy.

March data provided the first hard economic numbers of the year not distorted by the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday that fell in January this year, causing considerable skew in comparisons with the February 2011 holiday.

China’s data releases build to a crescendo through the week with first quarter GDP numbers expected to be published on Friday and forecast to show the slowest quarter of growth in nearly three years.

Inflation data published on Monday kept the government on stand-by to deliver more growth-oriented policies, with a trend of easing consumer costs in the first quarter confirmed while producer prices revealed risks to the industrial sector recovery.

The People’s Bank of China has cut the proportion of deposits banks must keep as reserves by 100 basis points in two moves since autumn 2011 in a bid to keep credit growing in the face of a recent slowdown of foreign capital inflows, which had underpinned money supply growth for much of the last decade.

Read more

Private companies continued to add jobs in March, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in February.

Businesses added 209,000 jobs in March, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP. Those job gains were slightly lower than forecasts for 217,000, and marked a slowdown from 230,000 private sector jobs added in February.

.staticLauncher {width:218px;border:1px solid #e8e8e8;} .staticLauncher a {font:normal 12px Arial; text-decoration:none;} .staticLauncher a:hover {text-decoration:underline;} .staticLauncher .staticLauncherHeader {clear:both; color: #000;padding:10px 10px 5px 10px; letter-spacing: -1px;} .staticLauncher .staticLauncherDek {color: #575757;font: 11px Arial;padding: 7px;} .staticLauncher .staticLauncherHeader a { font:bold 18px Arial;} .staticLauncher .imageContainer {width:218px;height:120px;} .staticLauncher .imageContainer img {display:none;position:absolute;} .staticLauncher .imageContainer img.show {display:block;} .staticLauncher .staticLauncherMore {float:right;}

Obama battles job crisis

Before Obama even took office, America had lost 4.4 million jobs. Track his progress since then.

Strong jobs data throughout the winter has been partially attributed to unseasonably warm weather, which allows some firms — in construction, for example — to remain fully operational during colder months. Once that effect fades, economists are bracing for weaker job creation.

But Wednesday’s report showed no sign of a sharp slowdown.

"Today’s number doesn’t show such a weakening," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers payday advance. "It’s pretty much in line with the last several months of increases."

The economy needs about 125,000 new jobs each month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. To fully dig out of the jobs hole left by the financial crisis, it needs far more.

Will we ever see 5% unemployment again?

Prakken forecasts that it could take another three or four years for the unemployment rate to fall back to a pre-recession level of around 5%.

"I’m pleased with today’s number, but I’m left with this concern that we aren’t stepping up to the next level," Prakken said. "We would need 300,000 or 400,000 in order to push the unemployment rate down as people jump back into the labor force."

Small businesses continued to drive job growth in March, according to ADP.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees made up about half of all private sector job gains, hiring 100,000 people.

Large companies with 500 or more employees hired 22,000 new workers, and medium-sized businesses added 87,000 to their payrolls.

Check the unemployment rate in your state

The ADP report typically sets the tone for the government’s highly anticipated monthly jobs report, due Friday. While the reports tend to show the same trends over the long term, their figures can diverge from month to month.

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney expect the Labor Department’s data to show 200,000 jobs added in March, including 210,000 from the private sector and a loss of 10,000 government jobs. 

Source