A7
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021
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DOW
33,815.90 -321.41
BRIEFING
Home sales fall
for second month
Sales of previously
occupied U.S. homes fell
for the second consec-
utive month in March
because there are so
few on the market, and
the fierce competition
for those that do exist is
pushing prices to new
highs.
Existing home sales
fell 3.7% last month from
February to a seasonal-
ly-adjusted rate of 6.01
million annualized units,
the National Association
of Realtors said Thurs-
day. Sales jumped 12.3%
from March last year.
Homes typically sold
in 18 days last month,
a record low. It was less
than the 20 days in Feb-
ruary, and much faster
than the average of 29
days last year at this
time.
Sales are slowing de-
spite the speed at which
buyers are pouncing
on homes that do hit
the market, revealing
surging demand in an
ultra-low inventory envi-
ronment, said Lawrence
Yun, NAR’s chief econ-
omist.
“It’s simply a severe
lack of supply that is
holding back sales,” Yun
said.
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Mortgage rates
dip below 3%
Mortgage rates fell
for the third straight
week, dipping below 3%
for the first time in two
months.
Mortgage buyer Fred-
die Mac reported Thurs-
day that the benchmark
30-year home-loan rate
declined to 2.97% this
week from 3.04% last
week. At this time last
year, the long-term rate
was 3.33%.
The rate for a 15-year
loan, popular among
those looking to refi-
nance, dipped to 2.29%
from 2.35% the week
before.
Experts have ex-
pected home-loan rates
to increase modestly in
the short term, while re-
maining at low levels in
light of the Federal Re-
serve’s goal of keeping
its principal borrowing
rate near zero until the
economy recovers from
the pandemic.
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.2008 -.0021
ILL-GOTTEN GAINS
Supreme Court cuts back FTC power
BY MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A unan-
imous Supreme Court on
Thursday cut back the Federal
Trade Commission’s author-
ity to recover ill-gotten gains,
overturning a nearly $1.3 bil-
lion award against a profes-
sional race car driver who was
convicted of cheating consum-
ers through his payday loan
businesses.
The high court’s ruling
takes away what the FTC has
called “one of its most im-
portant and effective enforce-
ment tools,” used in recoup-
ing billions of dollars over the
past decade.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote
in his opinion for the court
that the provision of federal
law that the FTC has relied on
does not authorize the com-
mission to seek or a federal
court to order restitution or
disgorgement of profits.
Businesses scramble for help
as job openings go unfilled
But Breyer noted that other
parts of the Federal Trade
Commission Act could be
used to obtain restitution for
consumers who have been
cheated.
See FTC / A8
INTEL | PRODUCTION
Company
forecasts
slower
sales amid
squeeze
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Biden to let states
set pollution rules
The U.S. Transpor-
tation Department is
moving to reverse for-
mer President Donald
Trump’s bid to end Cal-
ifornia’s ability to set its
own automobile tailpipe
pollution standards.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administra-
tion, which is part of the
DOT, said Thursday it is
proposing to withdraw a
rule meant to stop states
from setting their own
requirements for green-
house gases, zero emis-
sions vehicles and fuel
economy.
The change, if ap-
proved after the agency
takes public comments,
would allow California
and 15 states that follow
its standards to set their
own rules. President Joe
Biden has said he will
seek one national stan-
dard, as was the case
under former President
Barack Obama. Biden was
long expected to back
California.
Trump’s 2019 deci-
sion to end California’s
independence was chal-
lenged in court by the
state and environmental
groups.
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Hannah Albert via AP
Steve Klatt, left, and Brandon Lapp, are owners of Braised in the South, a Johns Island, South Carolina, restaurant and food truck business that
is having trouble finding workers during the pandemic.
BY JOYCE M. ROSENBERG • The Associated Press
NEW YORK —
I
t looks like something to celebrate: small businesses posting “Help Wanted” signs as the economy edges
toward normalcy. Instead, businesses are having trouble filling the jobs, which in turn hurts their ability to
keep up with demand for their products or services.
Owners say that some
would-be workers are worried
about catching COVID-19 or
prefer to live off unemploy-
ment benefits that are signifi-
cantly higher amid the pan-
demic.
Child care is another issue
— parents aren’t able to work
when they need to tend to or
home-school their children.
For some people, a combina-
tion of factors go into their de-
cision not to seek work.
When Steve Klatt and Bran-
don Lapp set up interviews
for their restaurant and food
truck business, they’re lucky if
one out of 10 or 15 applicants
comes in.
“The people who do show
up, all assume their unem-
ployment is running out,” said
Klatt, whose business, Braised
in the South, is in Johns Island,
South Carolina.
The maximum weekly un-
employment benefits in the
state are $626 including $300
in federal coronavirus relief
payments; in some states, max-
imum unemployment is over
$700 a week.
Klatt and Lapp need 20 peo-
ple to run the business well but
have only five staffers. Klatt
and Lapp recently decided to
curtail their Sunday hours and
close Mondays to give every-
one a break.
“The hit to the bottom line
will be noticeable, but it’s not
worth burning out the few
awesome people we do have
working for us,” Klatt said.
Jobless claims fall to 547K, another pandemic low
BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for un-
employment aid fell last week to 547,000, the lowest point since
the pandemic struck and an encouraging sign that layoffs are
slowing on the strength of an improving job market.
The Labor Department said Thursday that applications de-
clined 39,000 from a revised 586,000 a week earlier. Weekly job-
less claims are down sharply from a peak of 900,000 in early Jan-
uary. At the same time, they’re still far above the roughly 230,000
level that prevailed before the viral outbreak ripped through the
economy in March of last year.
About 17.4 million people were continuing to collect unem-
ployment benefits in the week that ended April 3, up from 16.9
million in the previous week. Most of the increase occurred in two
states, California and Texas, which process their claims every other
week.
Still, the number of ongoing recipients has declined by about
2.3 million from early March, when the figure was 19.7 million, ev-
idence that more people are being hired.
See Jobs / A8
Intel said Thursday it ex-
pects sales will drop during the
current quarter, warning tight
supply of production materials
will affect its ability to address
a global shortage of computer
chips.
Intel’s first-quarter sales to-
taled $19.7 billion, above fore-
casts from the beginning of the
year. That’s flat from the same
quarter last year.
Profits totaled $3.4 billion,
82 cents a share. That com-
pares to profits of $5.7 billion,
$1.31 cents a share, in the first
quarter of 2020.
During the current quarter,
though, Intel said it expects
sales will drop to $18.9 billion,
with profits of $1.05 a share.
Intel warned last month that it
will be constrained by a lack of
manufacturing supplies.
Neither the financial results
nor the forecast were surpris-
ing. Intel gave investors a pre-
view last month when the com-
pany outlined a new corporate
strategy focused on reviving its
manufacturing capabilities.
Intel shares closed Thursday
at $62.57, down $1.13 before
the company reported financial
results. The stock fell another
$1.16 in after-hours trading.
Intel is Oregon’s largest cor-
porate employer, with more
than 20,000 people working
at its campuses in Washing-
ton County. The chipmaker
replaced its CEO in February,
bringing back longtime Intel
executive Pat Gelsinger to run
the business after a decade as
VMware’s CEO.
Gelsinger took the helm of a
company reeling from a succes-
sion of manufacturing failures
that cost Intel is technology
leadership in the chip industry.
Former CEO Bob Swan had
been exploring the possibility
of outsourcing Intel’s most ad-
vanced manufacturing to rivals
in Asia, a decision that could
have given Intel access to more
powerful technology but could
have permanently hobbled the
company’s Oregon-based man-
ufacturing arm.
Organic produce sales continue growing, up 9.3% in 1st quarter
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
The pandemic has driven record sales and
interest in organic food — and that momen-
tum isn’t yet slowing.
A new report from the Organic Produce
Network and Category Partners this month
shows that total U.S. organic fresh produce
sales for the first quarter of 2021 increased
9.3% from the same period in 2020 — nearly
$88 million additional sales.
Conventional produce dollars, in contrast,
saw only a modest year-over-year increase at
about 2.9% during the first quarter.
By volume sold, organic bananas, carrots
and apples ranked as the top drivers at retail
this first quarter, according to the report.
By dollar amount sold, some of the top cate-
gories, from highest to lowest, were: pre-pack-
aged salads, berries, apples, herbs and spices,
carrots and lettuce.
Packaged salads, in the No. 1 spot, ac-
counted for 17% of all organic sales.
Sarah Brown, education and advocacy di-
rector at Oregon Tilth, a nonprofit that certi-
fies organic producers, told the Capital Press
last year that consumers turned to organic
produce during the pandemic for several rea-
sons. People were cooking more at home and
appeared to be looking for a sense of security
and a stable, local food source.
See Produce / A8
Organic
produce
sales con-
tinued
strong
through
the first
quarter of
2021.
Sierra Dawn
McClain/
Capital Press