Business in brief: Fed says economy has slowed since Jan. 1
The economy has weakened since the start of this year as shoppers turned even more cautious given the severe housing slump and painful credit crunch.
Manufacturers and other businesses, meanwhile, had to cope with skyrocketing prices for energy and other raw materials. The businesses’ ability to pass along higher prices to their customers was mixed, according to the Federal Reserve’s new snapshot of nationwide economic conditions released Wednesday.
“Economic growth has slowed since the beginning of the year,” the Fed reported. Two-thirds of the Fed’s 12 regions “cited softening or weakening in the pace of business activity, while the others referred to subdued, slow or modest growth,” the Fed said.
LONG BEACH, Calif.
Ports getting inspectors
Product safety inspectors will be deployed full-time at U.S. ports to screen toys and other imports for potential safety hazards, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.
The new import surveillance division will test selected products for unsafe levels of lead, loose parts that could pose a choking risk to children, faulty wiring on electric components, and other potential hazards. The unit will have the authority to hold shipments deemed hazardous.
The initiative follows the recall last fall of millions of toys – most from China – because of lead or other hazards.
DETROIT
Ford will pay bonuses
Even though it lost $2.7 billion last year, Ford Motor Co. will pay performance bonuses to all hourly and salaried workers in the U.S. and Canada, and to its management team around the globe, the automaker’s chief executive announced Wednesday.
In an e-mail message to workers sent Wednesday morning, chief executive Alan Mulally said the bonuses will come in paychecks this month because the company is making significant progress toward becoming profitable again.
Hourly workers will get lump-sum bonuses of $1,000 this year, while bonuses for salaried workers will vary by pay grade and leadership level, the message said.
NEW YORK
Apple misses movie goal
Apple Inc. has fallen substantially short of its target of having 1,000 movies available for rent on its Apple TV set-top box by the end of February, and is blaming studios for the discrepancy.
A complete count of the number of movies available on the box on Wednesday was elusive, but appeared to be between 400 and 500. A menu option that showed all movies at once has been removed, and some movies can be found only by searching for words in the title.
WASHINGTON
FHA loan limits raised
The government on Wednesday raised the mortgage limits for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration in 14 high-cost California counties.
The limits are derived from median home prices in each county, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The economic stimulus package includes a temporary increase in the limit on FHA-backed loans, from $362,790 to $729,750 in expensive areas, to let more homeowners with high-rate subprime mortgages refinance into federally insured loans.