Posted by Katharine Crnko
For Marketplace Morning Report, Thursday March 24, 2011
Here are some of today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and around the web.
The economy, in the last quarter of 2010, grew at an annual rate of just above 3 percent. The Commerce Department said today the nation’s revised Gross Domestic Product or GDP was about what analysts had expected.
American families on the other hand are making about 18 percent less money than they were before the financial crisis. That’s according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve.
The price of gas is also doing a number on how people feel about the economy. We got word from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan that consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in more than a year.
Because of higher radiation levels coming from the Fukushima plant in Japan, the government there is asking even more residents who live close to the plant to leave. You can see more of Marketplace’s coverage of nuclear safety and the state of the Fukushima plant here<.a>.
Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are just some of the companies that have had to suspend production because of the disaster in Japan. And the industry research firm IHS Automotive now says auto companies here in the US will really start feeling parts shortages next month. Check out Marketplace’s coverage here<a/>.
Stocks are up across the globe. But not shares of Research in Motion. The company is losing ground to Apple in its smart phone business and is cutting sales expectations — just a month before the launch of its tablet computer.
Forbes magazine says some colder weather climates have started popping up on the list of top places for seniors. Salt Lake City. Indianapolis. Fargo, North Dakota. The city ranked high because of low tax rates and crime and the availability of doctors. Great place to live? You betcha.
In New York City where a man is auctioning off his 212 area code phone number. He tells the New York Daily News whoever buys it will be able to avoid the humiliation of a 347 or 646 area code which he warns might make them look like they just moved to New York. The asking price is a million dollars.
You can read the rest of today’s headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
Here are the songs we played:
- Golden Brown — The Stranglers Buy
- For a Few Dollars More — Will T BearBuy
- Please Don’t Go — Mike PosnerBuy
- Falcon Jab — RatatatBuy
- No Sleep — Sam Roberts
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
