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MONEYLINE MANUFACTURING GROWS FOR 1ST TIME IN 6 MONTHS U.S. manufacturers expanded in March, ending a five-month streak of declining factory activity. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its manufacturing index rose to 51.8 last month from 49.5 in February. Any reading above 50 signals growth. The improvement suggests that U.S. factories are adapting to the turmoil abroad, where a stronger dollar and weakening economies in China, Japan and elsewhere have hurt sales.
NEWS MONEY SPORTS LIFE AUTOS TRAVEL
L awrence J ournal -W orld - USA TODAY SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016
Auto sales continue fast pace in March Ford Motor surprises by outselling GM, which usually leads
MODEL 3 ELECTRIC CAR JOLTS DRIVERS’ DESIRE
Nathan Bomey USA TODAY TESLA VIA EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
The Tesla Model 3 electric car was unveiled Thursday in Hawthorne, Calif.
BILL PUGLIANO, GETTY IMAGES
DIGITAL FIRST CUTS MORE THAN 70 JOBS AT ‘REGISTER’ Digital First Media moved swiftly to restructure ‘The Orange County Register’ after it bought the Southern California newspaper Thursday, letting go its editor and dozens of other employees. Rob Curley, editor of the ‘Register,’ told staffers Thursday he and Rich Mirman, CEO of its parent company, Freedom Communications, are among those leaving. More than 70 other staff members were laid off from the editorial, circulation, advertising and marketing departments, the ’Los Angeles Times’ reported. NETFLIX SHARES UP AFTER FREE PASS ON THROTTLING The Federal Communications Commission will not investigate Netflix’s practice of sending lower-resolution video to mobile subscribers on AT&T and Verizon networks. During a questionand-answer session Thursday after the FCC’s monthly meeting, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Netflix’s practice does not fall under the Open Internet, or net neutrality, rules. Netflix shares closed up 3.4% to $105.70. SAUDIS TO SELL SHARES IN LARGEST OIL COMPANY Saudi Arabia plans to sell shares in Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, as a step toward creating what it hopes can be a country-transforming wealth fund. An initial public offering of less than 5% of Aramco’s parent company could happen next year. Shares would be part of the Public Investment Fund, a growing fund that could help end the kingdom’s dependence on oil, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg.
TESLA SHARES RISE WITH PRE-ORDERS Chris Woodyard and Nathan Bomey USA TODAY
Tesla Motors investors took heart from the rush of interest in the Model 3 mass-market electric car Friday as pre-orders continued to pour in, driving up the Silicon Valley automaker’s stock. Tesla shares jumped almost 8% to close at $237.59 Friday, hours after CEO Elon Musk tweeted at midday the order bank had hit 198,000. “Future of electric cars looking bright!” Musk wrote. Even before people had seen the new car, Musk announced at the unveiling ceremony in a Los Angeles suburb Thursday night that preorders were at the 115,000 mark. Those who ordered had to put down a refundable $1,000. That’s encouraging for a new model that will test whether Tesla can make electric cars appeal to the masses. The Model 3 drove onto a stage through a curtain of fog at a lavish ceremony in a converted hangar adjoining the SpaceX rocket factory. Musk, who is CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, vowed that the car will seat five, hit the highest safety marks and have a range of at least 215 miles per charge. First deliveries are expected late next year, Musk says. The car’s profile is similar to the Model S, lacking any adornment on the front where a grille would normally be. Musk says the
ROBYN BECK, AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Customers wait in line to put a $1,000 deposit on the Model 3 outside the Tesla store in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday. car has trunks both front and rear. The extra space is due to its lack of a gas engine, because the car runs on batteries and electric motors alone. Inside, the car has a huge screen on the center console like other Teslas, though it is slightly smaller than on the Model S or X. It is also distinguished by a huge glass roof over both the front and rear seats, which Musk says affords better headroom. Though its performance won’t be nearly as breathtaking as its larger sibling, the super-luxury Model S, it will be impressive: zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds. To prove the point, Tesla offered test rides with a long straightaway in which the car hurtled down a side road at push-you-back-in-
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVG. 17,800 9:30 a.m. 17,750 17,685
TESLA VIA EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
17,700 17,650 17,600 17,550
The car is slated for 2017.
4:00 p.m.
17,793
107.66
FRIDAY MARKETS INDEX
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Nasdaq composite Standard & Poor’s 500 Treasury note, 10-year yield Oil, light sweet crude, barrel Euro (dollars per euro) Yen per dollar
CHANGE
4914.54 x 2072.78 x 1.77%
44.69 13.04 unch
$36.71 y
1.48
$1.1392 x 0.0005 111.73 y 0.80
SOURCES USA TODAY RESEARCH, MARKETWATCH.COM
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Job hoppers
1 in 5
Almost change jobs at least every 1-3 years. Most, 45%, stay at one job for more than 10 years. Source Jobvite survey of 1,386 adults JAE YANG AND JANET LOEHRKE, USA TODAY
your-seat speeds in near silence. The Model 3, Musk said, will be priced at $35,000, about half the cost of its two current models, the Model S sedan and Model X crossover. Musk tweeted Friday that with options, the average preorder was closer to $42,000. Investor reaction is important because of Tesla’s grand plans. Musk says Tesla aims to produce 500,000 cars a year, up from about 50,000 last year. To accomplish the goal, Tesla is building what Musk says will be the largest lithium-ion battery factory in the world outside Reno. The new car will face some competition it hasn’t seen in the past. General Motors, for instance, is introducing the Bolt, an electric with the lines of a small crossover with a range of about 200 miles and a price tag likely to be similar to the Tesla’s. “Tesla has a history of introducing a vehicle with a reasonably low price and then selling versions that are much more expensive,” Jack Nerad, executive editorial director for Kelley Blue Book, said in a statement. “There was no mention of EV’s major Achilles’ heel — recharge time. The 215mile range and long recharge times make EVs (electric vehicles) impractical for many buyers.”
Automakers enjoyed another solid month of U.S. new-vehicle sales in March, though concerns about rising discounts and a slightly lower selling rate dampened enthusiasm. Auto companies sold nearly 1.6 million vehicles for the month, up 3.2% from a year earlier, sales tracking firm Autodata reported. In a surprise, Ford Motor outsold traditional leader General Motors to become the largest automaker in America for a month. Autodata said the gap was 936 vehicles, although the two companies put it at 2,583. Though March was a historically strong month, it’s “shown a little bit of softness due to consumers being a little more cautious about spending,” said Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota’s U.S. division. “But they’re still spending. The economy still feels stable and fundamentals for consumer spending remain strong.” Still, most automakers missed analysts’ expectations for the month. Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book projected industry increases of 7.3% and 7.6%, respectively. Though car sales are largely stagnant or falling — save for exceptions such as the Honda Civic — crossovers, sport-utility vehicles and pickups remain hot. That translates into substantial profits as industry sales barrel toward a projected 17.7 million units for 2016, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. “Anything above 16 million is very strong,” AutoTrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs said. “But I think what we’re seeing is automakers are being forced to pull additional levers to sustain those sales.” Those levers include longer loans and increased incentives.
MARCH AUTO SALES Top auto sellers last month, with U.S. sales, change from month in 2015, market share last month: Sales Chg. Share Ford 253,064 7.8% 15.9% GM 252,128 0.9% 15.8% Toyota 219,842 -2.7% 13.8% FCA US 213,187 8.1% 13.4% Nissan 163,559 12.7% 10.3% Honda 138,221 9.4% 8.7% Hyundai 75,310 0.4% 4.7% Kia 58,279 -0.8% 3.7% Subaru 49,285 0.4% 3.1% VW Group 45,527 -4,1% 2.9% SOURCE AUTODATA
Employers added solid 215,000 jobs in March Retail, construction, health care lead gains Paul Davidson USA TODAY
Employers added 215,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday, underscoring that the U.S. labor market continues to shrug off economic weakness both domestically and abroad. The unemployment rate, which is calculated from a different survey, rose to 5% from 4.9%, as a surge of Americans back into the labor force — which includes people working and looking for jobs — more than offset a healthy rise in employment. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 205,000 new jobs, according to their median forecast. Businesses added 195,000 jobs, led by retail, construction and health care. Federal, state and local governments added 20,000. Average hourly wages rose 7 cents to $25.43 and are up 2.3%
ALEX WONG, GETTY IMAGES
Strong hiring in recent months has meant long lines at career fairs. Average hourly wages have increased as well. the past year, more than reversing an unexpected dip in February and possibly indicating that lackluster gains of slightly more than 2% throughout the recovery are picking up. If the trend continues, it could signal that inflation will accelerate and help prod the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate again after lifting it in December for the
first time in nine years. Possibly working against that trend was a rise in the labor force participation rate — the share of the population working or looking for jobs. It picked up from 62.9% to 63%, the highest level since March 2014, and it’s up from 62.4% since September after trending down for years as Baby Boomers have retired. Millions
of Americans have streamed back into an improving labor market, including retirees, people in school and on disability, and discouraged workers who stopped looking for jobs. If it persists, that shift could keep the jobless rate higher for longer and curb wage increases by expanding the job candidate pool. That could allow the Fed to raise interest rates more slowly. The report’s modest negatives included an average workweek that was unchanged at 34.4 hours. Employers who trim the hours of workers may be unlikely to step up hiring in coming months. The number of part-time workers who prefer full-time jobs jumped by 135,000, pushing up a broader measure of unemployment that includes that group, the jobless and discouraged workers who have given up looking to 9.8% from 9.7%. Last month, retailers added 48,000 jobs while health care added 44,000; leisure and hospitality, 40,000; construction, 37,000; and professional and business services, 33,000.