In the fourth quarter, the economy soared at a faster pace than expected: 5.7%, marking the fastest pace in more than six years, as businesses made less-aggressive cuts to inventories and stepped up spending, Reuters reported. Economists had expected GDP to rise at a 4.6% pace. While the year closed out with a strong fourth [...]
Retail gasoline across the major metropolitan markets of the U.S. brought in the New Year with price increases, with pump prices to continue climbing during the first full week of 2010. Underpinning the advance has been a rallying financial market for crude oil and gasoline, with crude oil again above $80 per barrel and gasoline [...]
With jobs being transferred overseas and business burdened with new financial challenges, more and more employees are struggling to survive. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a great understanding of the global economy, but there’s a disturbing trend of outsourcing jobs overseas, while at the same time hamstringing American business [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Altria Sales & Distribution (John Middleton) Swisher Swedish Match HONORABLE MENTIONS Altadis USA Republic Tobacco The SCHIP tobacco tax rates that hit in April 2009 are costing cigar smokers more, but sales continue to persevere. As of April, the federal taxes on large cigars rose from 20.719% of the wholesale price with a [...]
As the economy worsened, the number of adult Americans without bank accounts grew exponentially—and the use of prepaid cash cards climbed to new heights as well. Directo, a company that tracks pay cards to unbanked workers, reported that the recession has sent the number of unbanked Americans soaring to about 50 million, well up from [...]
Signs of the Times Overextended and anxious about the economy, consumers are responding to economic pressures by buying less, borrowing less and paying down credit card debt. The amount Americans owe on credit cards and other consumer loans plunged a record $21.6 billion in July, dimming prospects that the budding economic recovery will extend to [...]
While this troubled economy lingers, there might never be a better time than right now to increase your efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of your employees. As I reflected on gracious words attributed to a motivational speaker, the late professor Leo Buscaglia, I was both struck by his gentle touch, and [...]
Because major shifts in the economy have created unparalleled effects on the labor market, Convenience Store Decisions and Humetrics Inc. collaborated on our first ever human resources study in order to help convenience store owners understand the actions those in our industry are taking–or planning to take–in the coming months. An in-depth survey asked more [...]
A moribund economy is not the best time to take over as a category manager in charge of identifying what customers will spend their money on, but Pat Zelechoski is up to the challenge. Zelechoski, named category manager for NOCO Energy Corp.’s 31 NOCO Express convenience stores in the Eastern New York, will take on [...]