Posted on May - 07 - 2010
Coffee Break: April shows unexpected job growth
U.S. Employers added an unexpectedly large 290,000 jobs in April, the strongest hiring burst in four years and a welcome signal that companies are becoming more confident that the economy will continue to strengthen.
The improving picture caused so many more people to pour into the labor force in search of employment that the jobless rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent.
The hiring last month of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census added to overall job creation. But private employers — the backbone of the economy — contributed the most: A surprisingly strong 231,000 jobs, the most since March 2006, the Labor Department said Friday.
The new jobs, generated by sectors across the economy, are the first sign that the recovery is adding significant numbers of new positions — even if not enough to absorb the influx of jobseekers. That is why the unemployment rate increased.
The encouraging message in Friday’s report, though, is that employers are finally hiring again.
Simon drops bid for rival mall owner
Simon Property Group has withdrawn its $6.5 billion bid to acquire rival shopping mall owner General Growth Properties Inc.
Simon issued its decision Friday after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper in New York approved the plan by an investor group led by Canadian property manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Simon said the plan, which includes a break-up fee if General Growth went with another bidder, made the company too expensive.
Simon owns Wolfchase Galleria and Oak Court Mall in Memphis.
For more college grads
Leadership Memphis will launch the Memphis Talent Dividend: College Attainment Initiative with work sessions Friday from 9 a.m. to noon at Baptist College of Health Sciences, 1003 Monroe. This event is open to the public.
The initiative is a newly developed collaboration of stakeholders in the eight- county Memphis metropolitan area that are working together to increase the number of college graduates by one percentage point — from 23.7 percent to 24.7 percent — over the next five years.
To participate or for more information, call Leadership Memphis at (901) 278-0016 or e-mail rsvp@leadershipmemphis.org.
In brief . . .
Delta Air Lines employees and customers have raised $1 million for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, the company said Friday.
Automatic teller machines that immediately provide photocopies of deposited checks and a breakdown of bill denominations will be installed at all 87 Regions branches in Memphis and West Tennessee, the Birmingham-based bank said.
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- Fogelman Family Foundation gives $2 million to University of Memphis
