Resources Connection Inc. News Release (01/06/16)

Resources Connection Inc. reported revenue of $150.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2016, down 0.4% from $151.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. U.S. revenues rose 0.2% on a year-to-year basis. Net income totaled $8.7 million, up 8.8% from $8 million in the year-ago quarter.

TemPositions News Release (01/04/16)

The New York-based TemPositions Group of Cos. has acquired certain assets of Long Island, NY-based Opus Staffing and Opus Scientific. Opus Staffing specializes in direct hire, temporary, and temporary-to-hire placement of administrative, human resource, accounting and finance, marketing, and creative professionals. Opus Scientific places laboratory technicians, research associates, documentation specialists, biostatisticians, and other professionals in the life sciences, biotech, and related scientific-intensive fields.

Wall Street Journal (01/06/16) Josh Mitchell

The U.S. service sector in December grew at the slowest pace in more than a year and a half, although underlying signs suggest stable economic growth, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s nonmanufacturing purchasing manager’s index fell from 55.9 in November to 55.3 in December. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

December’s slowdown was likely temporary, reflecting holiday-related factors, says Anthony Nieves, the leader of the ISM survey. One of the key components of the index, supplier deliveries, rose in the fall as service companies prepped for holiday activity, but deliveries declined sharply in December. Other key components of the index—measuring output, new orders, and hiring—all rose in December.

“For the most part it’s been steady, incremental growth, and all indications are it’s going to stay on that path,” Nieves says. Some private-sector economists say the economy grew at about a 1% annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 2% in the third quarter.

Reuters (12/06/16) Lucia Mutikani

New orders for manufactured goods declined 0.2% in November after a downwardly revised 1.3% increase in October, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Inventories fell for a fifth consecutive month, indicating that economic growth was curtailed in the fourth quarter. Orders excluding transportation declined 0.3% in November after rising 0.1% in October. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft declined 0.3% instead of the 0.4% drop reported the previous month.

Bloomberg (01/07/16) Shobhana Chandra

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 10,000 to 277,000 in the week ended Jan. 2, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast claims of 275,000. The average of new claims over the past month declined by 1,250 to 275,750.