Business/Economy

If you’re lucky enough to win a multimillion-dollar lottery, you don’t need this column; you need a team of legal and financial experts to make sure you don’t blow your chance for lifetime financial security. But if you receive a considerably smaller monetary windfall, whether a tax refund, divorce settlement, inheritance or work bonus, there are actions you can take to positively impact on your current financial situation.
First, take a breath. Before going on a spending spree, stash the money in a savings account until you’ve examined your total financial picture. Weigh existing debts, upcoming expenses and future needs to make sure you apply the money where it’s needed most.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers hired only 54,000 new workers in May, the fewest in eight months, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent.

The Labor Department report offered startling evidence that the U.S. economy is slowing, hampered by high gas prices and natural disasters in Japan that have hurt U.S. manufacturers.

The pace of hiring has weakened dramatically from the previous three months, when the economy added an average of 220,000 new jobs. Private companies hired only 83,000 new workers in May — the fewest in nearly a year.

Stock futures plunged after the report was released.

Local governments cut 28,000 jobs last month, the most since November. Nearly 18,000 of those jobs were in education.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says a meeting between President Barack Obama and House Republicans was worthwhile even if it didn't bridge the partisan divide that exists over how to reduce the deficit.

Press Secretary Jay Carney said it's useful for Republicans and Democrats to sit down and talk in a non-confrontational environment. But also he said that a large meeting like the one between Obama and dozens of House Republicans Wednesday isn't the right forum for specific advances in negotiations.

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype SA for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history.

Buying Skype gives Microsoft access to a user base of about 170 million people who log in to Skype every month, using the Internet and Skype usernames as a complement to the traditional phone network and its phone numbers.

Microsoft said it will marry Skype's functions to its Xbox game console, Outlook email program and Windows smartphones. All of these platforms already have other options for Internet calling, but the addition of Skype users would expand their reach, making them more useful.