January Auto Sales Yo-Yo From Brand to Brand

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Fed Support Lifted Wall St. To Best Month Since January

After a day of stalled rallies, the stock market closed out July with its best monthly gain since January.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index ended the month 4.95 percent higher. That was the biggest increase since January, when it rose 5.04 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average also had its best month since January.

Markets surged in July after the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, assured investors that the central bank would not curb its stimulus program until the economy was strong enough. The Fed is buying $85 billion of bonds a month to keep down interest rates to encourage borrowing and hiring.

On Wednesday, the Fed reaffirmed its commitment to support the economy in a statement released after the end of a two-day meeting. The central bank dropped hints that it might need to maintain its stimulus, and slightly downgraded its assessment of economic growth in the United States from “moderate” to “modest.”

That initially gave stocks a boost, pushing the S.& P. 500 within two points of breaching 1,700 for the first time, in afternoon trading. But the rally faded in the final hour, leaving the S.& P. flat at the end of the day.

Given the market’s big gains in July, stocks may struggle to climb further in the coming months, said Philip J. Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. “I would not be the least bit surprised to see some modest consolidation,” he said.

Stocks started higher on Wednesday after the government said that the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter as businesses spent more and the federal government cut less spending. Economists had expected growth of 1 percent, according to the data provider FactSet.

There was also an encouraging report on hiring ahead of the government’s monthly jobs survey due Friday. Businesses created a healthy 200,000 jobs in July, the payroll company Automatic Data Processing said, as companies hired at the fastest pace since December.

The S.& P. 500 ended little changed at 1,685.73. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 21.05 points, or 0.1 percent, at 15,499.54. The Nasdaq composite index rose 9.90 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,626.37.

In the bond market, investors anticipated that the Fed’s slightly weaker assessment of the economy would imply a longer period of bond purchases. The price of the 10-year Treasury note rose 5/32, to 92 26/32, while its yield fell to 2.59 percent from 2.61 percent late Tuesday.

Euro Watch: Euro Zone Unemployment Rose to Another Record in January

That, along with new data showing a decline in inflation in the euro zone, could prompt the European Central Bank to take steps to stimulate the economy when its governing council meets on Thursday, analysts said.

Unemployment in the 17-nation euro zone climbed to 11.9 percent in January from 11.8 percent the previous month, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

For the 27 nations of the European Union, the jobless rate was 10.8 percent, up from 10.7 percent in December. All of the figures were seasonally adjusted.

A separate Eurostat report showed price pressures easing in February. In the euro zone, the annual inflation rate was 1.8 percent, down from 2 percent in January and below the central bank’s 2 percent target.

The jobless data suggests “that wage growth is set to weaken from already low rates” and further depress consumer spending, which has already been hurt by government austerity measures, wrote Jennifer McKeown, an economist at Capital Economics in London, in a research note.

Ms. McKeown said that the low inflation and high joblessness “should leave the E.C.B.’s policy options open,” and that the central bank “might discuss an interest-rate cut or other unconventional policies.”

There was some bright news on Friday. A survey of European purchasing managers by Markit, a data and research firm, showed that German manufacturing output grew for a second consecutive month in February as new business levels improved.

The composite German purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.3 — just above 50, the level that separates growth from contraction — from 49.8 in January. And the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden reported that German retail sales rose 3.1 percent in January from December, when sales fell 2.1 percent.

Another bit of data this week also supports the view that the German economy will recover from a fourth-quarter slump. The European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator for the euro zone rose to 91.1 in February from 89.5 in January, with German confidence leading the gain.

“German industry is clearly rebounding and taking advantage from better external traction,” wrote Gilles Moëc, an economist at Deutsche Bank in London.

Employment is sometimes seen as a lagging indicator of economic growth because companies try to avoid adding to their costs until they are convinced that a rebound is at hand.

But despite the glimmers of hope in German industry, there are few reasons to regard a recovery as imminent. Markit’s overall euro zone purchasing managers’ index was unchanged in February at 47.9, indicating continued contraction.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, forecast on Feb. 22 that the euro zone economy would shrink 0.3 percent this year, about the same as last year. The bloc’s debt problems, and the tax increases and government spending cuts that have been prescribed as the remedy, have sapped spending power, reducing business demand for labor.

In absolute terms, Eurostat estimated that 19 million people in the euro zone and more than 26 million in the European Union were unemployed in January.

Spain’s unemployment rate was 26.2 percent, and Portugal’s was 17.6 percent. Austria had the lowest rate, at 4.9 percent, followed by Germany and Luxembourg, at 5.3 percent each.

Greece’s unemployment rate in November, the latest month for which Eurostat has figures for the country, was 27 percent.

France, which has the second-largest euro zone economy, after Germany’s, had a 10.6 percent jobless rate in January. Britain, which is not a euro member, had a 7.7 percent rate in November.

That compares with unemployment rates of 7.9 percent in the United States in January and 4.2 percent in Japan in December.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: March 1, 2013

An earlier version of this article carried a headline that misstated the month of the data. The report was for January, not February. An earlier version of the article also misstated the name of a federal agency in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is the Federal Statistical Office, not the Federal Statistics Office.

Will Pennsylvania's Sizzling January Lateral Climate Last?

Despite the cold temperatures, January is often the month that the lateral market thaws and attorneys begin to make moves. This year has been no exception, with maybe a little more movement than in recent years. But is the movement among Pennsylvania's firms the typical start-of-the-year burst or is it a sign of things to come in 2013?

In the first month of the year, there were at least six lateral moves plus a large group defection among Pennsylvania firms.

Recruiters and law firm leaders alike expect a similar lateral market to what the industry saw in 2011 and 2012 in terms of activity, with the bulk of Pennsylvania firms looking outside of the state for their hiring needs.

Ballard Spahr Chairman Mark Stewart said he would expect the same amount of movement in 2013 as the market saw in the last few years. Stewart said any increased movement in January is typical of the culture and economic structure at law firms that supports movement soon after the end of a firm's fiscal year.

For Ballard Spahr, lateral acquisitions have been focused in other markets.

"We're rarely talking to lateral candidates in Philadelphia," Stewart said.

That isn't necessarily because the firm feels it has maxed out on attorneys in Pennsylvania, Stewart said, but rather there just isn't as much movement. Aside from the Decherts and Morgan, Lewis & Bockiuses of the world, most of the large firms in the market are on the same playing field financially, Stewart said. Attorneys therefore don't look to move much among those firms. The Philadelphia market is mature and many of the clients are institutionalized in the city, causing attorneys to stay put, Stewart said.

Recruiter Robert Nourian of Coleman Nourian said Pennsylvania firms have reached critical mass in their home-state offices and can service clients from those offices with the people they already have. Similar to Stewart's point, Nourian noted it is also difficult for one firm to woo a group of partners from across the street because there aren't that many differences between the firms.

A Pennsylvania firm talking to laterals in other markets, however, can be an easier sell because it gives those laterals the opportunity to fill out a practice need in a newer office and potentially have more leadership potential or autonomy, Nourian said.

If firms are looking to grow revenue in a lower-demand economy, entering new markets where there is a growing industry base, such as the energy market in Texas, may be the way to go, Nourian said. It might also make sense for firms to open new offices to be closer to a client.

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TECHNOLOGY: TimesCast Media+Tech | January 2, 2013

January 2, 2013By Fritzie Andrade, Emily B. Hager, Krishnan Vasudevan, Pedro Rafael Rosado and Samantha Stark

Austin Wintory, Grammy-nominated composer. | Apps to help keep New Year’s resolutions. | Ben Horowitz, entrepreneur and venture capitalist.

Jobless Rate Falls to 7.8%, Lowest Since January 2009

While employers added only a modest 114,000 jobs last month, the jobless rate declined to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent, even though more people entered the labor force.

Adding to the positive news, job gains were revised upward by 40,000 for July (to 181,000) and by 46,000 for August (to 142,000), which had been considered a disappointing month, casting a slightly rosier hue on the summer slowdown.

The private sector, which has been adding jobs since March 2010, grew by 104,000 workers in September. Governments, where cuts have been a drag on the recovery, added 10,000 jobs.

Manufacturing, one of the bright spots that Mr. Obama has showcased throughout the re-election campaign, fell 16,000 jobs after losing  a revised 22,000  in August, and construction jobs grew by 5,000. The number of temporary jobs, usually considered a harbinger of future growth, fell 2,000.

Coming a month before the presidential election, the jobs report offered ammunition for both sides as the candidates vie to convince voters that each is better equipped to steer the economy.

Mr. Obama can point to the 24th straight month of overall job growth after a severe financial crisis and a drop below the stubborn 8 percent jobless rate that has dogged his presidency. Republicans can — and did on Friday — continue to criticize the slow pace of improvement.

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential challenger, took particular issue with any positive interpretation of the report.

“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” he said in a statement. “We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we’ve lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office.”

Representative Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas and vice chairman of the joint economic committee, said the drop in the unemployment rate “was driven primarily by an increase of 582,000 in the number of workers employed involuntarily in part-time jobs. These workers need and want full-time jobs.”

“If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force,” Mr. Romney said in his statement, “the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11 percent.”

Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, conceded that numbers were an improvement but added, “it simply isn’t good enough.” A jobless rate of 7.8 percent “should not be cause for celebration.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada, countered that “with unemployment dropping below 8 percent to the lowest level in four years, our economy is on the right track.”

Consumers and businesses, too, seem to have divergent views of the economic situation. Consumers have shown increasing confidence as stocks rise and home prices stabilize.

Business leaders have been hanging back, though, more focused on global economic slowing and domestic concerns. They say they are uncertain what the election will mean for the business climate and are waiting in part for a resolution of the so-called fiscal cliff, a host of tax increases and budget cuts that will be triggered at the end of the year if Congress fails to act.

Harry Kazazian, the chief executive officer of Exxel Outdoors, a maker of camping equipment in Alabama, said the election, the fiscal cliff and rapidly shifting regulations had put him in a cautious mood.

With sales on the rise, Exxel has restarted a capital investment plan that it suspended three years ago, but is doing so slowly. “We’re moving forward, but we’re doing it in steps rather than being much more aggressive and putting ourselves out there,” Mr. Kazazian said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if things start turning the other way, meaning down.”

But at a Walmart in Atlanta, shoppers were loosening the reins a bit, buying what they described as small indulgences like scented candle oil and seasonal beer.

Linda Avery, 50, a food service manager, said her income had not changed but her daughter had moved out of the house, reducing her food and utility expenses.

John H. Cushman Jr. contributed reporting from Washington.