Opening statements are expected next week in a class action lawsuit accusing Microsoft Corp. of overcharging Minnesotans for software. If a settlement isn’t reached before then, it would be the first time a state lawsuit against the Redmond-based software giant has gone to trial. Microsoft has reached settlements in nine states and Washington, D.C., totaling $1.5 billion, including $1.1 billion in California. Cases were dismissed in 16 other states.
The nation’s payrolls grew by just 21,000 in February and left the unemployment rate stuck at 5.6 percent, just as President Bush revved up a re-election campaign that is counting heavily on a revived economy. The frustrating news for out-of-work Americans, contained in a jobs snapshot released Friday by the Labor Department, showed a continuation of the slow employment growth the country has been enduring. The net gain in nonfarm payrolls – government and private employers – fell well short of the 125,000 jobs that economists had forecast.
Consumer confidence rebounded over the past month as Americans felt better about their current financial situations, as well as the economy’s prospects in the months ahead. The AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index rose to 97.7 this week. That’s an improvement from a reading of 91.7 in early February, when consumer confidence took a hit, weighed down particularly by concerns about economic conditions down the road. The early March reading of 97.7, when compared to the same month a year ago, highlights just how far consumers have come. A year ago, as the war in Iraq broke out, consumer confidence sank to 61.4, the lowest reading recorded since Ipsos started the index in January 2002.
McDonald’s Corp.’s sales jumped a whopping 22.6 percent in February over last year’s numbers, the fast-food chain said Friday, extending a recovery that began last spring and sending its stock to a nearly two-year high. Comparable sales from McDonald’s restaurants worldwide, reflecting results from outlets open more than a year, were a better than expected 13.9 percent in a key measure of the strength of McDonald’s comeback. The hamburger giant’s 13,000-plus U.S. restaurants had the best showing, with comparable sales up 20 percent. Analysts and the company credited a combination of factors for the especially large U.S. gain: new products introduced since February 2003, less discounting, additional hours, the weak dollar and an extra day because of leap year.
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