Ups and downs: Slightly more people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, but the overall level stayed low enough to suggest the job market is strengthening. The Labor Department reports today that weekly applications increased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000. The four-week average, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, remained at roughly 355,000. That’s essentially unchanged from last week’s level, which was the lowest in four years. Applications have fallen 14% since October. When applications fall below 375,000, it generally signals hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate. The economy has added an average of 200,000 net jobs per month from November through January. That has helped lower the unemployment rate for five straight months to 8.3%.
On the books: Facebook has a new $5 billion credit deal, doubling a previous $2.5 billion credit agreement as it prepares for an initial public offering. The social networking company says in a regulatory filing it has also signed a $3 billion bridge-loan facility to pay taxes on restricted stock units in connection with its IPO. Those are employee shares that will vest when the company goes public. Facebook, which has 845 million monthly active users by its own calculations, also disclosed that fake or duplicate accounts may represent about 5% to 6% of that figure. The company also says it has had rapid revenue growth in Brazil and India, while its presence in China—where Facebook access is restricted—is nearly nonexistent.
Warp speed: A time-lapse video of a 30-story hotel project in Changsha, China—which shows the prefabricated building being assembled on-site in 15 days—has racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube and left Western architects speechless, The Los Angeles Times reports. “I’ve never seen a project go up this fast,” said Ryan Smith, an expert on prefabricated architecture at the University of Utah. “It’s unfathomable.” Some question the hotel’s safety in the speed at which the project progressed, but the builder defends its methods. Check out the full story and see the time-lapse video of construction here.
Today’s poll question: Do you think Louisiana Tech University should be moved into the LSU System?
