Economy

A majority of small businesses say the healthcare law is their biggest concern, finally eclipsing their long-held worry over economic uncertainty. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s latest quarterly small-business survey finds that 77 percent say the Affordable Care Act will make coverage for their employees more expensive, while 71 percent say it will be harder to hire more employees under the law. 

Of those surveyed, 79 of small businesses believe the economy is on the wrong track. 

“While the general trends of the economy appear to be improving, a closer look shows workforce participation still falling and full-time employment still historically low,” said Dr. Martin Regalia, the Chamber’s chief economist said on Thursday. 

Applications for jobless benefits spiked last week, rising to a four-month high amid volatile seasonal spring data. 

First-time claims rose by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, the third straight week of increases, the Labor Department said Thursday. 

The four-week moving average, which better reflects the trajectory of the labor market, jumped by 11,250 to 354,250, after hitting a five-year low in recent weeks. 

The report comes a day ahead of the government's release of March job-creation figures.

Congressional budget-cutting is weighing on job creation and especially hampering the efforts of the long-term unemployed to find work. 

A new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) details the demographics of the nearly 5 million people, or nearly half of all the country's unemployed, who have been out of work for at least six months, finding that Capitol Hill policies are compounding the issue. 

“For millions of America’s workers, the economic recovery remains more theoretical than real," said the project's executive director, Christine Owens.

“Knowing who the long-term unemployed are is important because it tells us what effective policy solutions should look like.” 

Minorities, younger workers and those without a high school education continue to face double-digit unemployment rates, while even those with a college degree are having trouble finding work.

The nation's service sector continued expanding in March, although at a slower pace because of a drop in new orders and less hiring. 

The gauge reflecting non-manufacturing activity dropped to 54.4 last month from 56 in February, the lowest level since August, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday. 

Readings above 50 percent signal expansion. 

The index is a survey of a wide variety of businesses — the sector employs 90 percent of all workers, including those employed at restaurants, hotels and retailers.

Private-sector employers added 158,000 jobs in March, a sign of steady job creation amid economic uncertainty. 

The report, released two days ahead of scheduled government figures, showed mixed results the prior two months, with February's job gains revised up by 39,000 and January's number knocked down by 38,000, according to the March ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday.

“Job growth moderated in March," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. 

"The job market continues to improve, but in fits and starts.”

Despite the drop-off in March, Zandi argues that factors affecting the job market haven't really changed much and that underlying job growth is 175,000, where it has been for the past two years. 

A House committee chairman is pushing the Small Business Administration for answers over how the agency plans to cope with the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the chairman of the House Small Business Committee, pressed the agency over how it plans to operate a loan program if funds run tight because of the sequester.

Graves also asked Karen Mills, the SBA administrator, for the agency’s travel expenses, after noting that his panel “remains concerned that core functions of the agency may be curtailed by sequestration.”

In February, Mills had detailed, in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, how the sequester could affect her administration’s ability to hand out loans and contracts and offer advice to small-business owners.

That letter and a briefing SBA gave to Graves’s committee “raise additional issues with respect to sequestration and, in particular, how the agency is planning to conduct its core functions in a time of limited budgetary resources,” the chairman wrote to Mills.

A Democratic senator will head up a China policy group to push U.S. exports. 

Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska was named chairman of the U.S.-China Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG), a bipartisan Senate group aimed at improving relations between the United States and China.

Begich, who will serve for a two-year term, said his top priority is advancing trade between the two nations, especially for his home state. 

“With Alaska’s economy tied to international trade more than most states, I look forward to working with members of China’s national parliament to increase fair and open trade between our nations,” Begich said on Tuesday. 

Consumer delinquencies declined significantly during the final three months of last year, with late payments on credit cards falling to their lowest levels in 18 years.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, credit card delinquencies fell to 2.47 percent from 2.75 percent, the lowest level since the third quarter of 1994, and well below the 15-year average of 3.87 percent, according to a report released by the American Bankers Association (ABA) on Tuesday.

James Chessen, ABA’s chief economist, said the sharp decline provides greater evidence that the economic recovery has taken root but that consumers are still shoring up their balance sheets amid lingering uncertainty.

“Consumers continue to carefully manage their finances in an effort to get debt levels under control and build up a secure financial base,” Chessen said.

“While this conservative approach to credit may slow economic growth in the short-term, it portends stronger, more consistent growth in the future," he said. 

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Manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace last month on drops in new orders and production, reflecting the sector's struggles of the past several months. 

The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its gauge of factory activity fell to 51.3 percent in March from 54.2 in February, when growth hit its fastest pace since June 2011. 

Amid the slowdown, employers continued to hire, with the index rising to 54.2 percent in March from the 52.6 percent reported in February. 

"It is notable that the pace of employment picked up even as overall sentiment about the current environment softened," said Chad Moutray, chief economist, of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). 

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