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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are modestly higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street following a jobs report that was better than most experts expected. Bond prices fell and yields rose, which sent shares of banks and other financial companies surging. Investors remain focused on corporate earnings. Weight Watchers climbed after reporting a strong quarter while Viacom, the media company that owns Comedy Central and MTV, sank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An analyst says the July jobs report is "solid from top to bottom" — except for one weak spot. Andrew Hollenhorst, an economist at Citi, says wage growth remains subdued. The Labor Department says employers added 209,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate slipped to 4.3 percent, matching a 16-year low first reached in May. But average hourly pay rose by just 2.5 percent from a year earlier, the same tepid annual pace as in June.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Lowe's has announced more layoffs. The North Carolina-based home-improvement chain says it will lay off an undisclosed number of delivery workers across the country, as the company shifts to third-party delivery. Earlier this summer, Lowe's laid off about 125 corporate tech workers, mostly at its Mooresville headquarters. Lowe's also eliminated 96 corporate tech jobs in October, and cut 2,400 full-time, mostly store-level jobs. In February, it followed with at least 500 corporate layoffs.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Two North Carolina islands are working to tally losses after a weeklong power outage at the height of tourism season. Hatteras and Ocracoke (OHK'-ruh-kohk) islands reopened to tourists today after power was restored. Officials in Dare County say businesses on Hatteras Island easily lost $2 million for each day of the outage. They are working on a more precise figure. Meanwhile, about 100 people attended a meeting in Hyde County to begin tallying losses on Ocracoke Island. One restaurant owner calculated that the power outage was likely to cost the business around 11 percent of its yearly revenue.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A fire official says about 10 people reported feeling sick after a suspicious package arrived in the mailroom of an IRS building in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. A Fire Department spokesman says people complained of feeling ill, including vomiting and sweating, and two were taken to the hospital. They're listed in good condition. The Fire Department was checking for gasses and fumes, but investigators haven't determined what was in the package.
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