Consumer confidence hit an eight-month high in January. The increase suggests the rising spirits that fueled a holiday shopping boom are carrying over into the new year as people feel better about the job market. The Conference Board said Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index climbed to 60.6 this month from 53.3 in December. While confidence is still far from the 90 that signals a healthy consumer mindset, the January improvement was better than expected. Some economists said the big tax relief package Congress passed in late December may have helped. “So much for a ho-hum January,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “The signing of the stimulus bill and all that it is intended to bring is buoying sentiment.”
Everett IRS center offers Saturday help
The IRS taxpayer assistance center in Everett will open this Saturday and again on Feb. 5. Spokesman David Tucker said four out of five people eligible for the agency’s earned income tax credit claim it and that the IRS would like to improve the number. More people should qualify this year because of a declining income, having more children, or a change in marital status, he said. Taypayers who want to learn if they qualify should go the Everett office between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on either Saturday, he said. Tucker said the average credit last year was $2,200. The Everett office is located at 3020 Rucker Ave.
Google to add 6,000 workers this year
Extending a surge that began last year, Google Inc. says 2011 will be its largest hiring year ever, plans that would mean the Internet giant will add more than 6,000 new workers over the balance of this year. With the hiring plans, Google will have more than 30,000 employees by the start of 2012, a workforce still significantly smaller than Silicon Valley giants like Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., but more than double the size of rivals like Yahoo Inc., and more than six times the size of the company that has become its most formidable competitor — Facebook Inc. Obviously, we’re optimistic about the future,” Google Senior Vice President Alan Eustace said in an interview Tuesday.
Earnings double but Yahoo struggles
Yahoo Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled, but the Internet company’s crumbling revenue made it clear that it’s still struggling to cash in on the online advertising boom. The results announced Tuesday show why many investors are wondering if Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is the right person for the job as she enters the second half of a four-year contract. Bartz has boosted Yahoo’s earnings through layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, but revenues have fallen. Yahoo earned $312 million, or 24 cents per share, in the October-December period. That compared with net income of $153 million, or 11 cents per share, at the same time in 2009.
From Herald news service
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