Business Analytics

Atlanta -- A report released Monday by payment solutions provider First Data Corp. found that year-over-year October dollar volume growth of activations of closed-loop prepaid cards was 2.7%, down from 8.9% year-over-year growth in September.

The First Data SpendTrend Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards analysis tracks U.S. same-merchant activations, redemptions and reloads of merchant-branded prepaid cards, including spending, gift, incentive and promotional cards.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Cos. reported Monday that profit for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 17% to $404 million, compared with net income of $344 million in the year-ago period.

The second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer cited shrinking labor expense for the improvement.

Revenue rose 1.9% to $11.59 billion in the third quarter. Wall Street expected sales of $11.75 billion. Same-store sales edged up 0.2%.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- A report released by workforce management solution-provider Kronos found that holiday hiring levels are lagging behind 2009 numbers.

According to the Kronos Retail Labor Index, which analyzes demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, the index decreased in October to 3%, down 16% from the September 2010 level of 3.6%. (A level of 3% means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred).

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl's Corp. reported late Wednesday it earned $194 million in the quarter ended Oct. 30, compared with nearly identical net income of $193 million in the year-ago period. The retailer cited rising costs for the flat profit performance.

Revenue rose 4.2% to $4.22 billion, just missing Wall Street expectations of $4.3 billion.