Labor Dept: Exodus drops jobless rate
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added just 74,000 jobs in December, far fewer than anyone expected. This from an economy that had been adding nearly three times as many jobs for four straight months — a key reason the Federal Reserve decided to slow its economic stimulus.
Economists struggled for explanations: Unusually cold weather. A statistical quirk. A temporary halt in steady job growth.
Blurring the picture, a wave of Americans stopped looking for work, and were no longer counted as unemployed. Their exodus cut the unemployment rate from 7 percent to 6.7 percent — its lowest point in more than five years.
Friday’s weak report from the Labor Department was surprising because it followed a flurry of data that had pointed to a robust economy.
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Meat companies have ideas on pigs’ welfare
TULSA, Okla. — The years-long call by animal-rights groups to improve conditions on American hog farms advanced considerably this week when two of the country’s biggest meat companies urged producers to change how pregnant sows are housed, and one announced it wanted to stop the practice of killing sick or injured animals by “manual blunt force.”
Tyson Foods sent new animal welfare guidelines to its 3,000 independent hog suppliers on Wednesday — roughly six weeks after gruesome video from an Oklahoma farm showed some animals being struck with bowling balls and others being slammed onto a concrete floor. And Smithfield Foods announced Tuesday it would ask growers to move pregnant sows from gestation crates to group housing by 2022.
The changes come after decades of lobbying and protests from animal-rights groups and a trend that saw more food retailers and restaurant chains moving away from suppliers who used the controversial hog-raising practices.
Court agrees to hear Internet TV case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will decide whether a startup company can offer live television broadcasts over the Internet without paying fees to broadcasters.
The high court agreed on Friday to hear an appeal from television broadcast networks in their attempt to shut down Aereo Inc., which takes free signals from the airwaves and sends them over the Internet to paying subscribers.
Broadcasters have sued Aereo for copyright infringement.
Standout gadgets
at electronics show
LAS VEGAS — Gadget watch from the consumer electronics show:
- FLIR Systems Inc. is launching an iPhone jacket that contains a heat camera. Temperature differences show up in different colors on the screen, so you can do things like check your home’s insulation for leaks. The FLIR One will cost $349, which compares with $995 and up for FLIR’s professional thermal imagers.
- Sitting down all day is bad for you, but it’s hard to motivate sitters to stand. Stir, a company founded by a former Apple engineer, says it has the answer: A table that will nudge you to stand, with a gentle, one-inch rise and fall of its surface. If you take the suggestion, the table rises to standing height.
The Associated Press