Business briefs: Despite lull, economists like what they see

Posted Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 0 comments  Print Reprints
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Economists like what

they see despite lull

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The weakest quarter for the U.S. economy in nearly two years may end up being merely a lull.

Economists think growth has begun to pick up on the strength of a sustained housing recovery and a better job market.

The economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.1 percent from October to December, the government said Thursday.

That's only slightly better than the Commerce Department's previous estimate that the economy shrank at a rate of 0.1 percent. And it's down from the 3.1 percent annual growth rate from July to September.

-- The Associated Press

Shares of J.C. Penney

take a 17 percent hit

NEW YORK -- Plano-based J.C. Penney is the biggest loser. Its shares plunged 17 percent Thursday, the worst on the Standard & Poor's 500 for most of the day.

The drop comes a day after the department store chain reported its fourth consecutive larger-than-expected quarterly loss on another steep sales decline.

With the drop, Penney's shares have lost nearly 60 percent of their value since January 2012, when CEO Ron Johnson ditched hundreds of sales in favor of "everyday low prices."

-- The Associated Press

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