On Wednesday March 16, 2011, 6:54 pm EDT
Higher prices for food are
about to get worse
WASHINGTON (AP) --
Americans are noticing higher prices at the grocery store, and it's about to
get worse.
Food prices at the
wholesale level rose last month by the most in 36 years. Cold weather accounted
for most of it, forcing stores and restaurants to pay more for green peppers,
lettuce and other vegetables, but meat and dairy prices surged, too.
The big questions are how
long food prices will keep rising and how high they'll go.
The impact is already
visible. Wendy's, paying higher prices for tomatoes, now puts them on
hamburgers only by request. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts have raised prices
because they pay more for coffee beans. Supermarkets warn customers that produce
may be of lower quality, or limited.
Food prices rose 3.9
percent last month, the most since November 1974. Most of the increase was
because harsh winter freezes in Florida, Texas and other Southern states, which
damaged crops.
At the same time, global
prices for corn, wheat, soybeans, coffee and other commodities have risen
sharply in the past year. That's raised the price of animal feed, which has
pushed up the cost of eggs, ground beef and milk.
Rebuilding northeast Japan
to take years, billions
TOKYO (AP) -- It took only
minutes for the earthquake and tsunami to devastate Japan's northeast.
Rebuilding will take years -- if it can be afforded.
The relentless wall of
water that the quake unleashed killed thousands, swept away whole towns,
inundated roads and knocked ports, oil refineries, steel plants and factories
out of action.
Experts say the cost of the
destruction likely exceeds that of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake --
estimated by Standard & Poor's to have totaled $159 billion.
The four most severely
affected prefectures (states) -- Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki -- are
home to industries from farming to auto parts to electronics and make up some 6
percent of Japan's economy.
Hundreds of thousands of
people have spent five nights with little food, water or heating in
near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones.
The biggest port on the
northeast coast, Sendai, has been destroyed. It handled mainly container
shipments of exports including rubber and marine products, office machinery,
paper goods and auto parts. Three others -- Hachinohe, Ishinomaki and Onahama
-- were severely damaged and will likely be out of commission for months.
Gov't panel issues mixed
final verdict on bailouts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
government's bailout of banks, auto makers and insurers helped prevent a more
severe economic crisis, but might have sowed the seeds of the next one, a
congressional watchdog group said Wednesday in its final report.
The Congressional Oversight
Panel said that the government's rescue fund may have prevented an economic
depression by sending billions of dollars to companies crippled in financial
crisis that erupted in 2008. But little has been done to aid to homeowners
facing foreclosure or others far from Wall Street, it said.
Current account deficit
falls in fourth quarter
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S.
businesses sold more industrial supplies, chemicals and farm products in the
final three months of last year, pushing the deficit in the broadest measure of
foreign trade down for the first time since the spring of 2009.
The current account trade
deficit fell 9.7 percent to $113.3 billion in the October-December period, the
Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It marked the first drop in the deficit
after five consecutive quarterly increases and pushed the trade gap to its
lowest point since early 2010.
While the fourth quarter
deficit shrank, economists expect that the first quarter deficit will widen
significantly, reflecting surging oil prices.
The devastating earthquake
in Japan is expected to have only a modest impact on the trade deficit this
year. It will likely lower imports from Japan at least temporarily while
boosting U.S. exports of goods needed in the rebuilding effort.
Dollar reaches 16-year low
against yen
NEW YORK (AP) -- The dollar
dropped below its lowest point in almost 16 years late Wednesday amid a nuclear
crisis in Japan, debt woes in Europe, tension in the Middle East and weak
economic reports at home.
The dollar plunged to 76.53
Japanese yen late Wednesday, falling far below the April 1995 low of 79.75 yen,
as leaks of radioactivity from a stricken Japanese nuclear plant have deepened
the Asian country's woes following last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.
The dollar was worth 80.83
yen late Tuesday.
Many analysts have said
they expected the Bank of Japan to try to weaken the yen if the dollar dropped
below 80 yen. A strong yen hurts the Asian country's exporters, potentially
deepening any hit to the economy from the earthquake and lingering nuclear
crisis.
New-home construction
plunges in February
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Builders
broke ground last month on the fewest homes in nearly two years and cut their
requests for permits to start new projects to a five-decade low. The decline in
construction activity is the latest evidence that the housing industry is years
away from a recovery.
Home construction plunged
22.5 percent in February from January to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes, the
Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the lowest level since April 2009
and the second-lowest on records dating back more than a half-century.
The decline followed a
surge in highly volatile apartment construction in January, which pushed the
overall construction rate up to more than 600,000 units -- the fastest rate in
20 months. Still, the building pace has been far below the 1.2 million units a
year that economists consider healthy.
Single-family homes, which
make up roughly 80 percent of home construction, fell 11.8 percent in February.
Apartment and condominium construction dropped 47 percent, reversing much of
January's gains.
UK unemployment up to 8 pct
as 2.5M out of work
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's
unemployment rate has risen to 8 percent as the number of people out of work
reached a 17-year high of more than 2.5 million.
The Office for National
Statistics said the rate for the November-January period rose from the 7.9
percent rate reported last month for the October-December period.
Total pay was up 2.3
percent compared with a year earlier, well below the current inflation rate of
4 percent.
The agency noted that the
number of people aged 65 or above who are working rose by 56,000 in the three
months to 900,000, the highest figure since the current data series began in
1992.
Portugal borrowing costs
rise after downgrade
LISBON, Portugal (AP) --
Portugal's borrowing costs rose in a bond sale Wednesday after its credit
rating was cut and amid fears a political standoff could derail its recovery
plan and Europe's efforts to contain the debt crisis.
Investors demanded a 4.3
percent interest rate to take on euro1 billion ($1.4 billion) in 12-month
Treasury bills. That is up from 4 percent two weeks ago and only 1 percent a
year earlier.
The auction came a day
after Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating, adding pressure on the
beleaguered minority government which is battling to avoid taking a bailout
like Greece and Ireland did last year.
Last weekend's surprisingly
broad EU plan to deal with the debt crisis was greeted positively in the
markets in the early part of the week. But pressure on Portugal remains, and
its bailout could trigger a renewed deterioration in eurozone markets and
destabilize other, bigger nations. Spain, Belgium and Italy are also weighed
down by large debts.
Netflix vying for first
rights to new TV series
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
Netflix Inc. is trying to buy the Internet streaming rights to a 26-episode
drama starring Kevin Spacey before the series is shown on a television network.
If the deal is completed,
it would mark a bold step in a new direction for Netflix's popular video
subscription service. Netflix currently boasts more than 20,000 titles in its
streaming library, but most of them are previously aired TV series and older
movies.
Should it win rights to
"House of Cards," Netflix would emerge as an even more serious threat
to pay-TV channels such as HBO. Netflix began the year with 20 million
subscribers. Some analysts believe that by the end of this year the service
could be as large as HBO, which is believed to have about 28 million
subscribers.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 242.12, or 2 percent, to 11,613.30. It was the worst drop since
Aug. 11. The Dow has now lost 3.6 percent over the past three days, its worst
three-day loss since last July.
The S&P index fell
24.99, or 1.9 percent, to 1,256.88. The Nasdaq composite index fell 50.51 or
1.9 percent, to 2,610. It is now down 1.4 percent for the year.
Benchmark crude for April
delivery gained 80 cents to settle at $97.98 per barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Oil rose as high as $99.60 earlier in the session. In
London, Brent crude rose $2.10 to settle at $110.62 per barrel on the ICE
Futures exchange.
In other Nymex trading for
April contracts, heating oil added 4.34 cents to settle at $2.9972 per gallon
and gasoline futures gained 4.08 cents to settle at $2.8437 per gallon. Natural
gas was down 0.3 cent to settle at $3.938 per 1,000 cubic feet.