UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets start week with gains

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. markets started the week with gains Monday morning after the Labor Department said unemployment rates were lower in 36 states in November.

The report issued Friday said more states added jobs than lost jobs for the first time since April, while the national unemployment rate moved lower, from 10.2 percent to 10 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved 222 points ahead in the past week.

In late morning trading Monday, the DJIA gained another 123.64 points or 1.2 percent to 10,452.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 15.18 or 1.38 percent to 1,117.65. The Nasdaq composite index rose 30.35 or 1.37 percent to 2,242.04.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bill fell 27/32 to yield 3.63 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4329 from Friday's $1.4335. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.94 yen from Friday's 90.34 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.41 percent, 41.42, to 10,183.47.

Temp jobs look ready to settle in

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. employers are hiring cautiously by adding temporary workers and keeping them on temporary status longer, statistics indicate.

After previous recessions, temporary hiring grew within two or three months, whereas temporary hiring has risen for four months through November, the Labor Department reported.

While addling 52,000 temporary jobs in November, the U.S. economy lost only 11,000 jobs in the month, compared to a loss of 190,000 in October.

The New York Times reported Monday that Eggrock, a firm that makes prefabricated bathrooms in Littleton, Mass., was caught shorthanded when an order for 462 units came in during the summer.

The company hired 40 temporary workers through the temp agency Manpower.

But "the biggest factor in prompting us to shift from temps to permanent employees would be a solid order backlog," Eggrock vice president Phillip Littlefield told the Times.

"So far a backlog has not materialized, or even a second order, although there is an uptick in interest," he said.

OPEC likely to leave production unchanged

LUANDA, Angola, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Oil ministers arriving in Luanda, Angola, and industry researchers said the world's dominant oil cartel would leave production levels unchanged for now.

Representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are set to begin a summit meeting Tuesday. While arriving in Luanda, OPEC's Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said there was "consensus that there is no change. If you look at the price, it is very comfortable."

Representing OPEC's largest exporter, Ali Naimi of Saudi Arabia said, "the current prices is wanted by all. We are not alone … but also those with alternatives and oil difficult to extract," The Financial Times reported Monday.

Consultants at PFC Energy in Washington said production would remain steady "for the moment," while warning a drop in demand and high supplies in 2010 might trigger a production cut of up to 1 billion barrels a day.

OPEC members last cut production in December 2008 by 2.2 million barrels a day to prop up prices that had fallen from $147 per barrel in July to lower than $40 per barrel by January 2009.

Prices have since risen steadily, reaching a peak for the year above $80 per barrel and hitting $75.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday morning.

Often unnoticed rates at UPS

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. customers may feel duped when they are charged extra at a UPS Store for sending a package by U.S. mail, a market critic said.

"I think there's a natural assumption on the part of the consumer that if you're sending something through the U.S. Postal Service, even when it's from another store, you're not paying more, and if you are paying more, it's just a pittance," Tod Marks, a senior editor at Consumer Reports told The New York Times.

The Times, however, reported Monday that surcharges at UPS Stores for sending packages through the federal mail system are not always small.

At various Manhattan UPS franchises, Times reporters found markups ranging between 10 percent and 140 percent over U.S. Postal Service rates for the same service, the newspaper said.

"UPS stores are allowed to have any kind of markup they want," said franchise owner Shawn Choudhury.

Further, UPS Stores don't always point out what the markup will be, the Times said.

"We would certainly hope that they are open and honest," said Rich Hallibrin, a spokesman for Mail Boxes Etc., which manages the shipping giant's franchise business.

But "we can't mandate it," Hallibrin said.