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Business/Economy

  • Delay in scientific ghost town stirs skepticism

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Pegasus Global Holdings' surprise announcement that it was pulling out of plans to build a $1 billion scientific ghost town in eastern New Mexico is stirring skepticism of the private firm's grandiose plans for transforming 15 square miles of this largely rural state into a next-generation research center.

    Lea County had been working closely with the company after winning the bid to house the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation. But "when we started pressing for details, that's when they decided to look elsewhere," county manager Mike Gallagher said.

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  • US economy adds 163K jobs, rate rises to 8.3 pct.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July, a sign that the economy and hiring remains sluggish.

    The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in June.

    July's hiring was the best since February. Still, the economy has added an average of 151,000 jobs a month this year — enough to keep up with population growth but not enough to drive down the unemployment rate.

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  • Fed: No New Steps Despite Slowing Economy
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  • So Long, Shamrock

    Work has begun on converting the former Shamrock gas station into a Smith’s fuel center. “Construction is starting from the ground up. They’re removing everything and starting over from scratch,” said Smith’s Food and Drugs Manager John Roberts. The fuel station is expected to open sometime in October.

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  • Tax holiday slated for Aug. 3-5

    It is that time of year again for the New Mexico Annual Tax Holiday.
    The dates are Aug. 3-5 and it is a good time to purchase school supplies and clothing without paying tax.
    The New Mexico Legislature established a deduction from gross receipts tax for retail sales of tangible personal property in 2005 and has continued it each year the first weekend in August.
    This is possible because the retailers can deduct the gross receipts tax during this period and therefore can pass the savings onto you for a weekend of tax-free shopping.
    The tax rate for Los Alamos is 7.3125 percent while Santa Fe City has a tax rate of 8.1875 percent.

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  • US economic growth slows to 1.5 pct. rate in Q2

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, as Americans cut back sharply on spending. The slowdown in growth adds to worries that the economy could be stalling three years after the recession ended.

    The Commerce Department also said Friday that the economy grew a little better than previously thought in the January-March quarter. It raised its estimate to a 2 percent rate, up from 1.9 percent.

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  • Troubled NM finance authority plans to scale back loans

    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Cities, counties and other local governments could find it harder to get low-cost loans from the New Mexico Finance Authority during the next several months because of fallout from a scandal over a fake audit of the agency's finances.

    The authority's governing board reviewed a proposal Thursday for limiting a loan program that finances projects such as sewers, roads and other infrastructure in communities.

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  • New sign at Hilltop House Hotel

    Justin Wuest, of the Zeon Sign Company, makes some last minute adjustments to the Hilltop’s old sign before taking it down Thursday.

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  • Apple Sags As Consumers Buy Cheaper iPhones
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  • US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

    Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.

    The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings. 

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