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Predictive Analytics

  • Jobless claims in U.S. increase a more-than-expected 397,000 last week

    Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed that jobless claims in the United States rose by 26,000 for the week ended March 5, to 397,000.

    Economists expected claims would climb to 376,000, according to a Bloomberg News survey. The total number of people receiving benefits in the prior week fell to the lowest since October 2008.

  • March Consumer Reports Index sign of economic improvement

    YONKERS, N.Y. -- In another positive sign for the economy,  the March Consumer Reports Index reveals its most positive results in two years.

    According to Consumer Reports National Research Center, which conducts the survey, the Consumer Sentiment Index has broken into positive territory at 50.3, which is up from 48.7 a month ago. This is the first time sentiment has been in positive territory since it was first measured in October 2008.

  • Report: Employment Trends Index increases 8% year-over-year

    New York City -- The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index, released Monday, increased in February for the fifth consecutive month.

    According to the Conference Board, the index now stands at 101.7, up from January’s revised figure of 100.1. The index is up over 8% from a year ago.

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  • Unemployment rate dips to 8.9%

    The unemployment rate dipped from 9.0% in January to 8.9% in February, according to data released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Construction employment grew by 33,000 in February, following a decline of 22,000 in January that may have reflected severe winter weather, according to the bureau. Within construction, specialty trade contractors accounted for the bulk of the February job gain (+28,000).

  • Teradata to acquire Aster Data Systems

    San Diego -- Teradata Corp. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aster Data Systems, a market leader and pioneer in advanced analytics and the management of a variety of diverse data that is not structured.

  • Kroger Q4 profit up 9%

    Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income jumped 9.2% while sales rose 7.4%. It also announced that its board authorized a $1 billion stock repurchase plan.

    Net income was $278.8 million, compared with $255.4 million in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose to $19.9 billion, with same-store sales up 3.8%.

    Kroger offered a cautious outlook for the current year, saying rising fuel costs are likely to take a bite out of household budgets.

  • AutoZone powers through difficult economy

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The nation’s largest automotive parts retailer announced another quarter of record results in which earnings per share advanced nearly 36% to $3.34 on same-store sales that grew 7.1% for the quarter ended Feb.12.

  • Pet chain fetches solid sales

    Profits at the nation’s largest pet specialty chain surged 26% during the fourth quarter as same-store sales advanced 6.3% and total sales grew 8.1% to $1.5 billion.

    “Our third consecutive quarter of accelerating comparable transactions growth as well as a strong holiday performance led to better-than-expected results for the quarter,” said PetSmart president and CEO Bob Moran.

  • Publix comps up in Q4 and FY

    LAKELAND, Fla. -- Publix Tuesday reported fourth-quarter sales of $6.4 billion, a 4.4% increase from last year’s $6.1 billion. Comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 increased 3.2%.

    Net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2010 were $342.1 million, compared with $284.2 million in 2009, an increase of 20.4%. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased to 44 cents for 2010, up from 36 cents per share in 2009.

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