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BUSINESS A25
                                                                                                                                                                Wednesday 21 October

Amazon boosts holiday hiring, signaling shift in retail jobs

M. CHAPMAN                       pany recently hired more         on the sales floor and be-    retailers is emerging during  tion predicted earlier this
A. D’INNOCENZIO                  than 25,000 people for           hind the cash register, said  a dicey period for the U.S.   month that holiday spend-
AP Business Writers              regular, full-time positions.    CEO said John Challenger.     Labor Department report-      ing, including online sales,
NEW YORK (AP) — Ama-             It hired 80,000 workers last     “These extra workers would    ed earlier this month that    will rise 3.7 percent to $630.5
zon plans to hire 100,000        year for the holidays.           also help pick up the slack   a sharp slowdown in hir-      billion, which is slower than
people for the holidays, a       Amazon stands out among          in the backroom, helping      ing occurred in Septem-       the 4.1 percent increase
25 percent jump from last        retailers, with holiday hiring   to receive and stock in-      ber. Average hourly wages     last year in November and
year that reveals a shift in     expected to remain largely       creased deliveries. Now, as   slipped by a penny and        December. The NRF does
the way we shop.                 unchanged, according to          more and more shopping is     have risen a tepid 2.2 per-   expect online spending
The online retailer said         a report from Challenger,        completed online, the holi-   cent in the past year.        to increase 6 percent to 8
Tuesday that it will be hiring   Gray & Christmas.                day hiring is shifting away   Meek wages and weak hir-      percent to $105 billion. On-
across the country for jobs      “It used to be that the bulk     from stores and into the      ing may take a toll on con-   line sales grew 5.8 percent
in its fulfillment and sorting   of holiday hires would be in     warehouses.”                  sumer spending.               during last year’s holiday
facilities. The Seattle com-     customer-facing positions        A mixed hiring picture from   The National Retail Federa-   season.q

Yahoo’s revenue slips again in 3Q as turnaround falters 

MICHAEL LIEDTKE                  declined or remained un-         This photo shows a sign outside Yahoo’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Yahoo reported quar-
AP Technology Writer             changed from the previous        terly financial results on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ya-         year. Meanwhile, revenue
hoo’s revenue is still evap-     at Yahoo rivals Google,                                                                                                       (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
orating three years into         Facebook and Twitter has
CEO Marissa Mayer’s turn-        been steadily surging as         estimates of analysts sur-    on the fate of Yahoo’s plan   ing the spin-off as part of a
around attempt, magnify-         advertiser spend more of         veyed by Zacks Investment     to place its remaining Al-    plan to prevent the remain-
ing worries that the Internet    their marketing budgets          Research. Yahoo’s stock       ibaba holdings — 384 mil-     ing profits from its $1 billion
company will be stuck in a       on the Internet. Analysts        dipped 38 cents to $32.45     lion shares currently worth   investment in Alibaba from
financial sinkhole after spin-   are projecting third-quarter     in extended trading after     about $28 billion — into a    being taxed in the U.S., but
ning off its lucrative stake in  revenue increases ranging        the numbers came out.         new company called Aab-       it’s now unclear whether
China’s Alibaba Group.           from 14 percent to 55 per-       Investors are now focused     aco Holdings. Yahoo is do-    that will pan out.q
A third-quarter report re-       cent at Google, Facebook
leased Tuesday showed            and Twitter when those
Yahoo took another step          companies report their re-
backward during the sum-         sults during the next two
mer as its revenue slipped       weeks. Yahoo’s earnings
8 percent from the same          also plunged 99 percent
time last year to $1 billion.    to $76 million, or 8 cents
The figure reflects how          per share, during the three
much revenue that Yahoo          months ended in Septem-
keeps after paying its ad-       ber. The steep decline re-
vertising partners — a bill      flected huge windfall that
that has been climbing           Yahoo pocketed from sell-
since the company struck         ing some of its stock in the
a deal late last year to         Chinese company’s initial
serve as the built-in search     public offering. If not for ex-
engine in the U.S. on the        penses covering employee
Firefox browser.                 stock options and other op-
It marked the ninth time in      tions, Yahoo said it would
the past 11 quarters that        have earned 15 cents
Yahoo’s net revenue has          per share to match the

Russell Simmons’ card glitch keeps thousands from their cash 

KEN SWEET                        tant items for their families.   company says the software     Facebook page and have        the card had been around
AP Business Writer               “I’ve had to depend on           glitch was mostly resolved    messaged Simmons on           for so long that he trusted it.
NEW YORK (AP) — Thou-            my sister to buy things for      over the weekend, though      Twitter, pleading for access  “I saw RushCard as being
sands of customers of pre-       my child,” said Deandra          thousands remain affect-      to their money.               stable and the best,” he
paid debit cards backed          Slater, a 31-year-old single     ed. The company says that     “I was fortunate that I had   said. Now, he says: “I’ve
by hip-hop mogul Russell         mom from Chicago, who            even if customers are un-     some money stored away,       spent hours upon hours on
Simmons remain without           hasn’t been able to access       able to get at their money,   but that money has dwin-      hold being lied to, hung up
access to their money            her child support money. “I      it remains safely housed in   dled away,” said Daniel       on and so on.”
more than a week after           shouldn’t have to rely on        MetaBank, the custodian       Sites, a 29-year-old single   Simmons, who started the
technical problems first be-     her.”                            bank used by RushCard.        father of three from Adrian,  company and threw his
gan plaguing the cards.          The problems with the Rush-      MetaBank is insured by the    Pennsylvania.                 name and brand behind
Customers of the so-called       Card started October 12,         Federal Deposit Insurance     Sites, who works for a com-   the card, has been ac-
RushCard, a pre-paid debit       when a software upgrade          Corp.                         pany that makes military-     tive on Twitter and other
card aimed mostly at peo-        in the card’s transaction        The money may be there,       grade glass, wasn’t able      social media and says he
ple without bank accounts,       processing system caused         but that does little good     to open a traditional bank    has been talking with cus-
say they have missed car         many RushCard accounts           when people can’t get it.     account because of credit     tomers to help resolve their
payments and worse. Some         to show a zero balance or        RushCard customers have       problems stemming from a      problems, according to
say they have been unable        left customers unable to         flooded the company’s         divorce. He got a RushCard    messages posted in his ac-
to purchase food or impor-       access to their funds. The       customer service lines, its   in February, partly because   counts. q
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