Business Digest || Google to hire more than 6,200 this year

Google to hire more than 6,200 this year

san francisco

Google Inc. plans to hire more than 6,200 workers this year — boosting its work force by at least a quarter — in the biggest expansion yet by the Internet’s most profitable company.

The hiring spree came as President Barack Obama prepared to emphasize the need for more jobs during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was among a group of business leaders who met with Obama last month to discuss ways to bolster the economy.

But Google’s push to further expand its work force, which grew by 23 percent last year, may not be well received on Wall Street.

The Internet search leader’s spending has annoyed some investors who prefer a more frugal approach in hopes of fatter returns.

Consumer confidence hits 8-month high

washington

Consumer confidence hit an eight-month high in January. The increase suggests the rising spirits that fueled a holiday-shopping boom are carrying over into the new year as people feel better about the job market.

The Conference Board said Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index climbed to 60.6 this month from 53.3 in December.

Though confidence is still far from the 90 that signals a healthy consumer mind-set, the January improvement was better than expected. Some economists said the big tax relief package Congress passed in late December may have helped.

Oil prices drop below $87 a barrel

new york

Oil continued to drop Tuesday on mixed economic news and the possibility that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries will step up production.

Benchmark crude for March delivery lost $1.68 to settle at $86.19 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil hasn’t been below $87 since Dec.1. It’s fallen more than 4 percent since Thursday, when it was approaching $92 a barrel. About half of the drop happened in the last two days.

One of the main reasons for the decline this week is comments on Monday by the Saudi oil minister, which many analysts and investors took to mean that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, thought oil had gotten too expensive and could threaten global economic growth.

Layoffs at Disney

los angeles

The Walt Disney Co. is confirming layoffs amid a restructuring of its video-game division, a money-losing unit that is focusing more on mobile and social games and away from expensive-to-produce console games.

The company didn’t specify the number of people affected.

Last week, Disney closed Propaganda Games, the console-game studio behind “Tron: Evolution” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned.”

Associated Press

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .62, 23.65 .27

Avalon Holdings,3.02.01

Clear Channel, .80 53.95 —.85

Cortland Bancorp, 5.55—.05

Delphi Automotive, .02 .00

Farmers Nat., .12, 3.72 .01

First Energy, 2.20, 38.98—.45

FirstMerit Corp., .64,18.96 .08

First Niles Financial, .32,7.25.00

First Place Fin., 2.78—.05

FNB Corp., .48,10.24.04

General Motors,38.40.76

General Electric, .56,19.98—.06

Motors Liquidation, .09.00

Huntington Bank, .04, 6.90—.01

JP Morgan Chase, .20,44.87—.15

Key Corp, .04,8.91.30

LaFarge, 16.28 —.09

Macy’s, .20, 23.33—.13

Parker Hannifin, 1.16, 86.49—.58

PNC, .40,60.88.40

RTI Intl. Metals,26.45—.01

Rural/Metro, 14.06 .15

Simon Prop. Grp.,3.20,100.56.81

Stoneridge 15.09 .15

United Community Fin. 1.52—.02

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Provided by Stifel Nicolaus. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.