Apple Supplier in China: Foxconn Commits on Labor Changes

The Fair Labor Association, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group
focused on workers' rights issues, said Thursday that it has found
"significant issues with working conditions" at three China factories
operated by Foxconn, a major Apple Inc. supplier.

The independent group of academics, civil society organizations and
companies said it has "secured groundbreaking commitments that will
reduce working hours to legal limits while protecting pay, improve
health and safety conditions, establish a genuine voice for workers,
and will monitor on an ongoing basis to verify compliance."

Apple previously announced that it had engaged the FLA to audit these
facilities.

February pending home sales index dips 0.5 point

Pending home sales dipped slightly in February, according to an industry trade group the National Association of Realtors. Its pending sales index fell to 96.5% last month from 97.0% in January, although it's still 9.2 percentage points above its year-ago level. 

"The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year. If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. 

By region, pending home sales rose 6.5%% in the Midwest, but dropped 3.0% in the South, 2.6% in the West and 0.6% in the Northeast. 

An index reading of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed. Not all contracts lead to closings.

February new-home sales fall while prices jump

Sales of new homes dipped 1.6% in February though prices jumped, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Friday. Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted 313,000 in February, from a slightly downwardly revised 318,000 in January. 

Median sales prices, which are not seasonally adjusted, jumped 8.3% to $233,700, which is the biggest one-month percentage rise in 14 months. Compared to Feb. 2011, median prices climbed 6%.

U.S. jobless claims at the lowest level in the last 4 years

The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell by 5,000 last week to 348,000, the lowest level since February 2008, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. 

Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 353,000 from 351,000. 

The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, declined by 1,250 to 355,000. 

Continuing claims, which reflect people already receiving benefits, decreased by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.35 million in the week ended March 10. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. 

About 7.28 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended March 3, a decline of 142,499. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag.

Apple Initial Sales Of New IPad Top 3 Million Units

Apple Inc. sold three million new iPad tablets since the latest version of the product started selling Friday, March 16,  in the U.S. and nine other countries. That is the strongest iPad launch to date, according to Futurist Creation's blog.

The new iPad is available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, U.K. and the U.S. Virgin Islands and will be rolled out to 24 more countries starting this Friday, March 23.

The report comes on a day of big news for the technology company, which earlier unveiled plans to share billions of dollars in profits with shareholders through dividend and buyback share. Apple would issue its first dividend in more than a decade, paying $2.65 a share each quarter. The company also plans to buy back as much as $10 billion in stock over the next three years, beginning on Sept. 30, the start of its 2013 fiscal year.

In January, Apple said its fiscal first-quarter earnings more than doubled, blowing past analysts' expectations, as profit and revenue hit record highs, led by strong sales of the iPhone smartphone and iPad.. Source article "Apple Initial Sales Of New IPad Top 3 Million Units".

Apple pays investors with dividend and share buyback

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook fulfilled a longstanding desire of investors by initiating a quarterly dividend and share buyback that will pay out $45 billion over three years.

The world's most valuable technology company will start paying its first dividends since 1995 -- a regular quarterly payout of $2.65 a share -- in July, and buy back up to $10 billion of its stock beginning in the next fiscal year.

Ignatius' Report: Bin Laden ordered operatives to kill Obama and Petraeus

Documents found at Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan show that he
directed operatives to kill President Obama and Gen. David Petraeus,
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports.

"The reason for concentrating on them," the al-Qaeda leader allegedly
wrote, in a document recovered by U.S. forces during the May 2 raid on
the compound, "is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him
automatically will make [Vice President Joe] Biden take over the
presidency. ... Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will
lead the U.S. into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the
hour ... and killing him would alter the war's path" in Afghanistan.

Administration officials said Friday that the Obama-Petraeus plot was
never a serious threat. Ignatius reports that he was given an
exclusive look at the documents by a senior administration official.

U.S. unemployment unchanged at 8.3 percent in February

U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs in February to complete three of the best months of hiring since the recession began. The unemployment rate was unchanged, largely because more people streamed into the work force.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent last month, the lowest in three years. And hiring in January and December was better than first thought. The government revised those figures to show 61,000 an additional jobs.