WSJ 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2014 THE AGGREGATOR Amid Steady Job Creation, Wage Growth May Pick Up The number of job openings across the U.S. reached a fresh 13year high in August, a sign that this year’s strong job creation could stretch into fall and eventually boost wage growth. Employers had 4.84 million open positions in August, up from 4.61 million in July and the highest level since early 2001, the Labor Department said last week. The steady job creation has slashed the number of job seekers, a sign the labor market is tightening and raising the prospect of stronger wage growth. In August, there were just under two unemployed workers per job opening, the lowest since the recession. In 2009, that figure was nearly seven. Other figures suggest the labor market is growing below its potential. Despite the pickup in job openings in August, the number of hires actually fell to 4.6 million from 4.9 million in July. That could signal that while employers are ready to expand, they are having trouble finding the right workers or don’t need to hire immediately. —Josh Mitchell The Wall Street Journal Factory-Pay Hot Spots Although manufacturing wages on a nationwide basis lag behind the increases for all private-sector workers, they are growing faster than overall wages in certain states. In Texas, wages for all types of production workers in factories grew an average of 6.3% from a year earlier, compared with nationwide overall privatesector wage growth of 2.3%, according to U.S. government data for the three months ended Aug. 31. Factory-wage growth was 4.4% in Washington state, 4% in Oregon and 3.1% in Indiana in that period. The bigger pay increases in certain industrial states are likely to spread to other regions, especially as baby boomers start to retire, some economists say. “There are skill shortages that are developing and are going to be more and more widespread,” said Daniel Meckstroth, chief economist at the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, an industry-funded research group in Alexandria, Va. The wage growth applies to a wide range of manufacturing jobs—from machine operators Federal investigators believe the same hackers who stole data from J.P. Morgan Chase computers this summer also plucked some information from Fidelity Investments, according to people close to the case. It’s unclear which Fidelity networks were infiltrated or what types of data were taken from the company, one of the nation’s largest investment firms. But so far, authorities don’t believe the breach compromised account information or was on the same scale as the customer-contact information taken from J.P. Morgan, the people said. Investigators have said at least 13 companies were targeted by the unknown hackers, making it one of the most significant cyberattacks disclosed in the U.S. To date, only J.P. Morgan and Fidelity are known to have had data stolen. An unspecified number of the compa- Michael Witte exchange rates average prices today are still 5% higher in Italy, 10% higher in France and 25% higher in the U.K. than here in the U.S. But those figures mask a multitude of variations. In London, for example, food and drink cost a fortune, but the best museums and art galleries are free. For bargain hunters, the cheapest countries overall, says the OECD, are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic— where prices are about a third below those here. Wash. Mont. Began collecting sales tax for Amazon purchases Oct. 1 Do not collect tax for online purchases Ore. Idaho Nev. N.D. Wis. Neb. Utah Ariz. Colo. N.M. Kan. Okla. Pa. Ohio Ind. Ill. W.Va. Va. Mo. Ky. N.C. Tenn. Ark. S.C. Ga. Miss. Ala. La. Fla. Hawaii Source: the company Easier Health Applications Most consumers shopping for insurance on HealthCare.gov starting next month will use an application that is about onefourth as long as last year’s, federal officials said. The new application has been tested by federal officials and contractors since July in an effort to avoid some of the problems that plagued the site last fall. Up to five million people are expected to return and make changes to their coverage, and millions more are expected to sign up for plans on the site for the first time. Under the revised system, about 70% of people who haven’t bought coverage through the site before are likely to go through an identity-verification portal and then complete an application that is 16 web-pages long, down from 76 pages last year. About 30% of new users will be diverted to the old system after the first few pages because their situations appear to be more complicated. That includes scenarios such as having a child living in a household who isn’t claimed as a dependent on a tax return. —Louise Radnofsky The Wall Street Journal Fuel Efficiency Stalls a Bit U.S. auto makers engineered big gains in fuel efficiency during the past decade, but the pace is slowing as consumers snap up more pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that fuel efficiency of 2014 vehicles would rise just one-tenth of a mile per gallon from 2013, a sharp slowdown from the half-mile-a-gallon increase the agency calculated between 2012 and 2013. The EPA said cars and light trucks produced in 2013 averaged 24.1 mpg, a record since the government began keeping tally in 1975. EPA officials said they believe final 2014 numbers would beat the official outlook. But even before the report’s release, auto makers and dealers expressed doubt that consumers would shell out for high-tech, lighter-weight cars and trucks that can achieve the administration’s goal of a fleet averaging 54.5 mpg by 2025. Mazda Motor placed first with a 2013 model-year adjusted average fuel economy of 28.1 mpg, the EPA said. In last place was Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with a 20.9 mpg average for its 2013 model output. —Joseph B. White The Wall Street Journal Strong Economic Outlook Faster job growth and stronger consumer confidence are already putting the U.S. expansion on a steady trajectory heading into 2015. Now, falling energy prices are offering an- Trading Could Buoy Banks For the first time in over a year, the biggest U.S. banks likely won’t see quarterly results dragged down by their trading businesses. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will log higher earnings for the third quarter, according to estimates tallied by Thomson Reuters. J.P. Morgan Chase is expected to swing to a profit from a large year-ago loss. Only Bank of America is expected to post a bad quarter, because of its $16.7 billion settlement with the Justice Department over mortgage sales. Trading revenue for the big five U.S. banks is expected to total $16.74 billion for the quarter, according to Nomura Holdings, flat with a year earlier. —Saabira Chaudhuri And Justin Baer The Wall Street Journal Email: [email protected] Taught by Joel Sartore LECTURE TITLES D R OR off 22 R FE LIM PHOTOGRAPHER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FELLOW ER BY O C TOB E Learn the Inside Secrets of Professional Photographers Photographs can preserve cherished memories, reveal the beauty of life, and even change the world. Yet most of us point and shoot without really being aware of what we’re seeing or how we could take our photo from good to great. Just imagine the images you could create if you trained yourself to “see” as the professionals do. With Fundamentals of Photography, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the art of taking unforgettable pictures straight from photographer and National Geographic Fellow Joel Sartore—a professional with over 30 years of experience. Whatever your skill level, these 24 engaging lectures allow you to hone your photographer’s eye, take full advantage of your camera’s features, and capture magical moments in any situation or setting imaginable. Offer expires 10/22/14 THEGREATCOURSES.COM/5SJ 1-800-832-2412 Will begin collecting sales tax for Amazon purchases in 2016 other boost, according to The Wall Street Journal’s monthly survey of economists. The panel of 46 economists— not all of whom answered every question—estimates the economy grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter and will expand at a 3% pace in the current quarter. The consensus expects inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will grow 2.8% in 2015’s first half, well above the 2.2% annual rate averaged so far in this recovery. —Kathleen Madigan The Wall Street Journal Fundamentals of Photography 70% R.I. Conn. N.J. Del. Md. D.C. The Wall Street Journal nies’ systems had some contact from computer addresses linked to the hackers but didn’t lose any data, according to people close to the investigation. —Devlin Barrett, Emily Glazer And Kirsten Grind The Wall Street Journal D TIME OF Mass. N.Y. Mich. ADVERTISEMENT E IT Maine Iowa Texas Alaska N.H. Vt. Minn. S.D. Wyo. Calif. Do not have a state sales tax Fidelity Data Stolen Paris, London Cheap? Hardly. I’ve just come back from Europe, and there’s some good news and bad news. The good news is that the U.S. dollar is going up and up as European currencies go down and down, making it cheaper for traveling Americans to enjoy London, Paris or Rome. The bad news is that it still can be pretty darn expensive. According to the Parisbased Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, at current Collect sales tax for Amazon purchases and repair people to electricians and engineers—and not just to specialties such as welding, where shortages are acute. —James R. 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