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Beth Belton @bethbelton USA TODAY
BUSINESS SURVEILLANCE LAST-MINUTE GREEK TALKS uIn a nutshell: Greece and its creditors are locked in last-ditch talks, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker trying to broker a deal over the weekend, Bloomberg News reported Saturday. uThe star: Officials from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism were on call to participate in the negotiations if progress is made between Greece’s envoy and Juncker’s chief of staff. The goal is to reach a deal before markets open on Monday, the Bloomberg report said. Both sides were prepared to continue talks on Sunday. uThe money: U.S. and European stock markets took a dive Friday as fears grew that a lastminute deal won’t be reached and Greece will default on its debt. Greek stocks dropped 5.9% on Friday, with bank shares dropping 12%, as talks remained deadlocked. The yield on Greek 2017 bonds rose 137 basis points to 20.03%.
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L awrence J ournal -W orld - USA TODAY SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2015
LABOR FORCE PAINS SPENCER PLATT GETTY IMAGES
Union workers cheer as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to at a rally in NYC’s Union Square on May 7. Though the labor market shows positive signs, U.S. ranks of part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs remain swollen at 6.7 million.
JUSTIN SULLIVAN, GETTY IMAGES
IN THE HOT SEAT RADIOSHACK’S LATEST PLAN RadioShack filed a bankruptcy liquidation plan explaining how the remaining assets of the onceiconic consumer-electronics retailer will be distributed, Bloomberg News reported Saturday. The plan follows the sale of about 1,700 of the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain’s stores — as well as the rights to its name — to Standard General. The hedge fund plans to run the locations under a co-branding arrangement with Sprint Corp., a Bloomberg report said. In addition to buying the stores for about $145.5 million, Standard General purchased data on about 67 million customers in a $26.2 million deal for assets including the RadioShack name.
FORD ON THE FRONT BURNER FORD’S LE MANS SUPERCAR Ford has made it official: a Ford GT race car will race in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, a fitting celebration of the 50th anniversary of the automaker’s first win with the GT40 at the prestigious endurance race. Ford’s return to racing includes the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Mark Fields and Raj Nair, head of global product development, made the announcement Saturday in France on the eve of this weekend’s Le Mans race.
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Maxing out 401(k)
92% of participants are satisfied with their plans. Yet, percentage who maximize contributions is
13% Source Guardian 401(k) RetireWell Study 2.0 JAE YANG AND PAUL TRAP, USA TODAY
As the jobs market mends, many Americans still work part time grudgingly
Paul Davidson @PDavidsonusat USA TODAY
K
eener Barnhorst, 24, juggles three part-time jobs — as a social media tracker, bow-tie salesman and boxoffice clerk for the San Diego PaPART-TIME FOR dres. He would prefer one, fullTHE LONG TERM time position. The number of part-time “I just want stability,” says workers who prefer full-time Barnhorst, adding that his low jobs has fallen more slowly pay keeps him from moving out than other measures of pain in of his parents’ house more than a the labor market, such as year after he graduated from San discouraged workers. Diego State University. Although the labor market is inching closer to full health by 10M 9.1M many measures, the ranks of part-time workers who prefer 8M full-time jobs remain swollen. Their total number — 6.7 million 6M — has dropped just 8.4% the past year and is well above the pre6.7M 4M recession level of about 4.4 mil5.3M lion, Labor Department figures show. 2M Involuntary By contrast, the number of dispart-time workers couraged workers who have (in millions) 0 stopped looking for jobs — anoth2008 2015 er gauge of labor-market pain — has fallen 20% the past year. And 1,000 1,083 the nation’s unemployment rate is 5.5%, close to the 5% to 5.2% 800 that the Federal Reserve considers normal. 600 Fed Chair Janet Yellen has cited the large number of socalled involuntary part-time 400 563 workers as a reason to keep interest rates near zero for longer to 200 400 Discouraged spur more economic growth and workers full-time job creation. But a re(in thousands) 0 port last week by the Federal Re2008 2015 serve Bank of San Francisco concludes that a third of the rise Source Bureau of Labor Statistics in involuntary part-time workers KRIS KINKADE, USA TODAY
One reason for the prevalence of reluctant part-timers is that workers under 25, who often want to work part time, have comprised a progressively smaller share of the labor force. since 2006 is due to long-term changes in the labor market that may be less responsive to low interest rates. In May, 4.2% of the labor force was made up of involuntary parttimers, the San Francisco Fed says. In May 1996 and late 2004, when unemployment was at the current level of 5.5%, the share of involuntary part-timers was just 3.2%. One reason for the prevalence of reluctant part-timers is that workers under 25, who often want to work part time, have comprised a progressively smaller share of the labor force. That forces employers to draw part-timers from the pool of older Americans who want full-time jobs, the study says. Another factor is that hotels and restaurants, which employ many part-time workers, make up a bigger share of the labor market than they did before the recession and have been slow to replace part-timers with full-timers, according to the San Francis-
co Fed and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Employer preferences also have changed. Many businesses likely have limited their hiring of full-time workers to avoid health coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act, says RBS Chief Economist Michelle Girard. And employers in sectors such as retail, warehousing and call centers are increasingly using software to slot in part-timers to handle peak customer demand, says Susan Lambert, a labor economist at the University of Chicago. “That trend is not going to reverse just because the economy is getting better,” she says. Other firms are bringing on part-time workers for projects that may not require 40 hours a week. Wilson Holding Co., of Key Biscayne, Fla., which coordinates employee training and conferences, has 11 full-time employees and seven part-timers. CEO Richard Wilson says the part-timers perform tasks such as book editing and graphic design. If he replaced them with full-time workers, each would have to handle multiple roles. “I’m getting somebody who is specialized,” he says. Plus, he says, he saves on health care costs. Most part-time workers don’t get benefits such as health insurance or paid vacation. Lambert, though, says evershifting part-time schedules can make it hard for workers to meet household expenses and often generate higher employee turnover. Says Lyndsay Lujano, 31, a Kerman, Calif., cashier and bookkeeper who averages 30 hours a week: “I can’t go on vacation.”
Net neutrality rules are now in effect Court of appeals denies a stay request Mike Snider @MikeSnider USA TODAY
The Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules went into effect Friday after a court decided not to block them. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday denied a request by several broadband providers and opponents to the FCC’s Open Internet order or net neutrality rules. The rules, passed by a partisan 3-2 vote in February, require Internet service providers to give consumers access to all legal content and applications on an equal basis, without favoring some
sources or blocking others. After the rules’ passage, several companies and groups including AT&T, USTelecom, CTIA The Wireless Association and National Cable & Telecommunications Association challenged the rules in court asking for a stay. “This is a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement released before the rules went into effect. “Starting Friday, there will be a referee on the field to keep the Internet fast, fair and open. Blocking, throttling, pay-for-priority fast lanes and other efforts to come between consumers and the Internet are now things of the past. The rules also give broadband providers the certainty and economic incentive to build fast and competitive broadband
CHIP SOMODEVILLA, GETTY IMAGES
“This is a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
networks.” Opponents welcomed the court’s decision to expedite the case. “The U.S. is the world’s leader in the deployment and adoption of wireless broadband, due in large measure to decades of lighttouch regulation,” said CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker in a statement. “The wireless industry seeks to restore that approach ... rather than suffer the harmful consequences of the FCC’s overreach.” Also on Thursday, a U.S. House subcommittee passed a budget provision that would cut FCC funding by $25 million and prevent it from enforcing the net neutrality rules until court cases were decided. It’s not yet known if the provision will make it out of committee and be included in ongoing budget negotiations.