JOBLESS CLAIMS
Nearly 5 million Americans continued to draw jobless benefits late last month, and new requests again exceeded 600,000 as companies laid off scores of workers amid a deepening recession. In slightly better economic news, retail sales rose unexpectedly in January, reversing six months of decline and following a dismal holiday season. But analysts said the jump was unlikely to last, partly because of the weak job market. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial jobless benefit claims dropped to a seasonally adjusted 623,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 631,000 the previous week. The latest tally still was above analysts’ expectations of 610,000 claims.
COCA-COLA
Coca-Cola Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 18 percent as it felt the effect of the stronger dollar and took several write-downs, but the world’s largest soft drink maker sold more of its products around the world. The results — including a 4 percent increase in worldwide case volume — beat Wall Street estimates, and Coca-Cola’s shares rose nearly 7 percent to $44.06 in afternoon trading. The seller of Sprite, Fanta, VitaminWater, Minute Maid orange juice and Nestea also plans to accelerate spending cuts and said it would save $500 million a year by 2011.
CREDIT CARD RULES
Swiping your credit card would come with dramatic new protections under regulations considered by Congressional lawmakers Thursday. Among the industry practices blasted at the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing was the piling on of hidden fees on consumers. Fees can be incurred for telephone payments, balance transfers, replacing lost cards and cash advances. Card issuers can also raise interest rates for a variety of reasons. Any new regulations would be in addition to a sweeping clampdown on the industry already adopted by the Federal Reserve late last year. Those rules, which take effect in July 2010, shield consumers from arbitrary interest rate hikes and inadequate time to pay bills.
– AP
