Rains replenish TVA reservoirs
TVA’s fiscal year began last fall with the driest month on record in the Tennessee Valley last October. But a deluge of rainfall in the past couple of weeks brought all but one of TVA’s reservoirs above their summertime levels.
Only the Blue Ridge reservoir in North Georgia remains below the targeted level for this time of the year, and many of the mainstream dams along the Tennessee River are continuing to spill water to help lower rain-swollen lakes, TVA Senior River Management Manager Robin Peak said Friday.
So far in 2017, the seven-state TVA region has averaged 20 inches of rainfall, or 2 inches more than normal.
“We’ve gone from dry, drought conditions to more normal conditions in most of the valley over the past few weeks,” Peak said.
Consumer borrowing rises 5.2 percent in March
Americans consumers stepped up their borrowing in March, taking out more loans for cars and school.
The Federal Reserve reported Friday that total consumer borrowing rose by $16.4 billion, or 5.2 percent in March, up from a $13.7 billion increase in February and the biggest uptick since November’s $25.5 billion jump.
The category that includes student and auto loans jumped by nearly $14.5 billion, or 6.2 percent – the most in five months. The category that covers credit cards rose more modestly, up by $2 billion or 2.4 percent.
Economists watch consumer borrowing closely. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The government reported earlier this week that consumer spending was flat in February and March, one reason the economy grew at a lackluster 0.7 percent annual pace in the first quarter of 2017. Still, most economists expect growth to pick up in the spring and summer.
Janet Yellen says barriers still exist for women
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said Friday that women have made major strides in the workplace in the past 125 years, but she expressed concern about barriers that still are holding women back today.
In a speech at Brown University, Yellen cited a recent study showing that boosting the participation rate of women in the workforce to the same level as men could raise overall U.S. economic output by 5 percent.
Yellen said women’s participation rate in the workforce climbed to around 74 percent by the early 1990s. She said the rate for women in their prime working years currently stands at about 75 percent, compared to a participation rate for men of around 88 percent.
“While some married women choose not to work, the size of this disparity should lead us to examine the extent to which structural problems such as a lack of equal opportunity and challenges to combining work and family are holding back women’s advancement,” she said.
Berkshire Hathaway reports lower profits
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday that first-quarter net income fell to $4.06 billion, or $2,469 a share, from $5.59 billion, or $3,401 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $2,674 a share. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) on Friday reported first-quarter profit of $4.06 billion.
The conglomerate, which owns Shaw Industries in Dalton, Clayton Homes in Knoxville and hundreds of other businesses, posted revenue of $65.19 billion in the period.
Berkshire shares have increased slightly more than 2 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Friday, shares hit $250,000, an increase of 16 percent in the last 12 months.