Economy’s fourth-quarter growth revised down to 2.2%
The Commerce Department said Friday that the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the October-December quarter, weaker than the 2.6 percent first estimated last month. It marked a major slowdown from the third quarter, which had been the strongest growth in 11 years.
Economists, however, remain optimistic that the deceleration was temporary. Many forecast that growth will rise above 3 percent in 2015, which would give the country the strongest economic growth in a decade.
Pending home sales index climbs to an 18-month high
The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose at a healthy pace in January, a sign that home sales are poised to accelerate after a slow start to the year.
The National Association of Realtors said Friday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index increased 1.7 percent to 104.2 last month. December’s figure was also revised higher to show a decline of only 1.5 percent, considerably better than a previously estimated drop of 3.7 percent. The index is now 8.4 percent above its level one year ago and is at the highest level since August 2013.
Uber: Database containing driver information breached
Uber says a database containing the names and drivers’ license numbers of 50,000 of its drivers was breached in May. The ride-sharing service says it has notified the drivers and hasn’t received any reports of the information being misused. Uber says it will offer a one-year membership in Experian’s ProtectMyID Alert identity theft protection service to the drivers involved, which the company described as a “small percentage” of its current and former drivers.
– From news service reports
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.