Business briefs

  • Thursday, February 2, 2006 9:00pm
  • Business

Microvision Inc. of Bothell said Thursday it has raised $10.3 million by selling 2.55 million shares in its former subsidiary, Lumera Corp. The private placement of stock went to a “small group of investors,” according to Microvision. The money raised will help Microvision pay for its own operations through this year. The company still owns 2.1 million shares of Lumera’s stock.

Zumiez shares continue to climb

A day after announcing impressive sales gains for January, shares of Everett-based Zumiez Inc. jumped $2.41 to close Thursday at $50.91. For the four-week period ended Jan. 28, sales at the sports and action-wear retailer’s stores increased 46 percent to $12.9 million, compared with $8.8 million in the same period of 2005. At stores open at least a year, sales grew by 23 percent.

Holiday earnings down for Amazon

Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 43 percent in the all-important holiday season compared with the same period a year ago, when the company had a big one-time gain. For the three months ended Dec. 31, the Internet retailing giant said it earned $199 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with $347 million, or 82 cents a share, in the last three months of 2004. The earnings were close to what analysts had expected for the period.

Realtors oppose Wal-Mart bank

The National Association of Realtors is urging new Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to weigh in against efforts by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to operate a bank in Utah. “We ask that, early in your term, you actively oppose” Wal-Mart’s application now pending before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the association said in a letter. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is seeking to operate a special breed of bank called an industrial loan company, or ILC, in Utah. It wants to do this so it can process credit card, debit card and electronic check transactions from its retail locations.

Worker efficiency tapers off in 2005

The efficiency of American workers rose in 2005 at the slowest pace since the recession of 2001, while a key gauge of wage pressures rose at the fastest pace in five years, the government reported on Thursday. The Labor Department said productivity rose by 2.7 percent last year, while labor costs rose by 2.4 percent, the biggest jump since a 4.2 percent increase in 2000. For the final three months of the year, productivity actually fell by 0.6 percent, the first decline since early 2001, and labor costs rose by 2.4 percent.

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