Stocks seek direction…Yellen: Shifts in job market complicate Fed rate decisions…McDonald’s names new president

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks have been moving between slight gains and losses in early trading on Wall Street. A speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has left investors unsure when the Fed might start raising interest rates. International markets turned lower earlier in the day a Russian aid convoy entered Ukraine, raising fears of an escalation of the crisis there.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the Great Recession complicated the Fed’s ability to assess the U.S. job market and made it harder to determine when to adjust interest rates. She notes that while the unemployment rate has steadily declined, other gauges of the job market are harder to assess and may reflect continued weakness. Yellen spoke this morning at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald’s has named a new president for its flagship U.S. division, marking the second change in less than two years. The world’s biggest hamburger chain says former McDonald’s executive Mike Andres will replace the retiring Jeff Stratton in October. Stratton took over in late 2012 after McDonald’s reported its first monthly sales drop in nearly a decade. Sales in the U.S. have remained weak ever since.

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Agricultural equipment maker Deere is laying off about 460 employees indefinitely from an Iowa tractor factory as it continues to adjust to market demand. The world’s biggest farm equipment supplier said last week that it would lay off more than 600 employees at four Midwest factories that make harvesting and other agricultural equipment due to slumping demand. Deere employs about 67,000 people globally.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Commissioners in Cameron County, Texas, have agreed to waive 10 years of county taxes as part of an agreement bringing the world’s first commercial site for orbital rocket launches to the southernmost tip of Texas. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., also known as SpaceX, announced earlier this month it had selected Cameron County for its launch site. The $85 million investment is expected to bring 300 new jobs to the Brownsville area.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up