Singing Sonata’s praises

I find it difficult to shine a spotlight on any car in the convoluted midsize sedan market. That being said, the 2013 Hyundai Sonata should be on a sedan buyer's list of cars to test-drive when considering the offerings from Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Nissan or Toyota. While there are few features that tip the scales in favor of the Sonata, there is still plenty to like about the sedan from the South Korean automaker.

I've been a big fan of Hyundai's Sonata since I first drove a hybrid version three years ago. A spacious and well-built interior is what continues to strike me most about the Sonata. Our sharp-looking test Sonata had a sparkling ruby red exterior that contrasted well with its two-toned camel and dark brown interior. Heated front and rear leather seats, an eight-way power adjustable driver's seat, and dual zone climate control are standard features that stood out to me with our test model, which had a base price of $25,845. These are features that usually cost extra on many of the competitors' offerings. Seats throughout the cabin were comfortable with plenty of leg room.

Our test model included a $2,900 "limited premium package" with a high-resolution touch screen and navigation. The package also included a backup camera, a premium sound system and a panoramic sunroof. The added features were simple to use and blended well with the Sonata's upscale interior, but they bumped up the total cost to just under $30,000.

Our test Sonata had adequate power from a 190-horsepower, 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine. Gas mileage was a respectable 28 mpg combined city and highway. I was pleased to see that Hyundai is still using a smooth-shifting, six-speed automatic transmission as many competitors are switching to continuously variable transmissions. While CVTs have greatly improved — the Honda Accord is a great example — I still enjoy the predictable shifting of the conventional automatic.

Hyundai does a good job balancing the comfort and performance of the Sonata's ride quality. I found the sedan's suspension slightly cushy — some might say too cushy — but it did a good job of dampening bumpy roads ravaged by a snowy New England winter.

There are no losers in the crowded midsize sedan market. The 2013 Sonata offers a modest list of standard features that stand out against the competition. But when you throw in the added features, the Sonata falls in line with the other manufacturers, all pretty much hitting the $30,000 mark. Ditto with fuel economy and overall quality. While a slightly better ride quality might be found elsewhere, it's hard to overlook the 2013 Sonata, especially when you factor in Hyundai's extended warranty.

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Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb partner on oral hepatitis C treatment

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today it has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company to conduct second, all-oral studies of the former's VX-135 drug with the latter's drug, daclatasvir, for the treatment of hepatitis C.

As part of the agreement, Vertex plans to conduct two of these studies of the combination, including an initial study in treatment-naive people with genotype 1 HCV infection planned for the second quarter of this year.

Vertex will also begin a subsequent study in treatment-naive people infected with genotype 1, 2 or 3 of hepatitis C, including those with cirrhosis, in the second half of the year, pending data from the initial study.

"With more than 170 million people infected worldwide, there is a critical need for new hepatitis C medicines that can offer people simpler and more tolerable treatment regimens that provide high cure rates," said Vertex's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Kauffman.

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Obama faces choice on morning-after pill limits

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama supports requiring girls younger than 17 to see a doctor before buying the morning-after pill. But fighting that battle in court comes with its own set of risks.

A federal judge in New York on Friday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception — ending today's requirement that buyers show proof they're 17 or older if they want to buy it without a prescription. The ruling accused the Obama administration in no uncertain terms of letting the president's pending re-election cloud its judgment when it set the age limits in 2011.

"The motivation for the secretary's action was obviously political," U.S. District Judge Edward Korman wrote in reference to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who made the 2011 decision. The FDA had been poised to allow over-the-counter sales with no age limits when Sebelius took the unprecedented step of overruling the agency.

If the Obama administration appeals Korman's ruling, it could re-ignite a simmering cultural battle over women's reproductive health — never far from the surface in American politics — sidetracking the president just as he's trying to keep Congress and the public focused on gun control, immigration and resolving the nation's budget woes.

"There's no political advantage whatsoever," said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. "It's a side issue he doesn't need to deal with right now. The best idea is to leave it alone."

Still, Obama has made clear in the past that he feels strongly about the limits. And as a politician whose name won't ever appear on a ballot again, it's hard to see the downside in sticking by his principles.

"As the father of two daughters, I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine," Obama said in 2011 when he endorsed Sebelius' decision.

The Justice Department said it is evaluating whether to appeal. Allison Price, a Justice spokeswoman, said there would be a prompt decision. And the White House said Obama's view on the issue hasn't changed since 2011.

"He supports that decision today. He believes it was the right common-sense approach to this issue," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday.

Appealing the decision could rile liberal groups and parts of Obama's political base that are already upset with his forthcoming budget, which includes cuts to programs like Medicare and Social Security. But currying favor with conservatives who want the ruling to stand also is unlikely to do much to help Obama make progress on his second-term priorities.

"It won't help him with Republicans in Congress to get policy matters attended to," Sheinkopf said.

Also weighing on Obama and his aides as he decides how to proceed is the unpleasant memory of previous dust-ups over contraception, including an election-year spat over an element of Obama's health care overhaul law that required most employers to cover birth control free of charge to female workers as a preventive service. That controversy led to a wave of lawsuits that threatened to embroil Obama's health care law, already under fire for a requirement that individuals buy insurance, in even more legal action.

When Obama offered to soften the rule last year, religious groups said it wasn't enough. Obama proposed another compromise on the rule in February to mixed response from faith-based groups.

If the court order issued Friday stands, Plan B One-Step and its generic versions could move from behind pharmacy counters out to drugstore shelves — ending a decade-plus struggle by women's groups for easier access to these pills, which can prevent pregnancy if taken soon enough after unprotected sex.

Women's health specialists hailed the ruling Friday, arguing there's no reason a safe birth control option shouldn't be available over the counter and dismissing concerns that it could encourage underage people to have sex.

But social conservatives, in a rare show of support for Obama's approach to social policy, said the ruling removes common-sense protections and denies parents and medical professionals the opportunity to be a safeguard for vulnerable young girls.

"The court's action undermines parents' ability to protect their daughters from such exploitation and from the adverse effects of the drug itself," Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Half the nation's pregnancies every year are unintended. Doctors' groups say more access to morning-after pills — by putting them near the condoms and spermicides so people can learn about them and buy them quickly — could cut those numbers.

The morning-after pill contains a higher dose of the female progestin hormone than is in regular birth control pills. Taking it within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or just forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But it works best within the first 24 hours. If a woman already is pregnant, the pill has no effect.

Absent an appeal or a government request for more time to prepare one, the ruling will take effect in 30 days, meaning that over-the-counter sales could start then.

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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

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Pork found in Ikea's moose lasagna

STOCKHOLM — Ikea says it has withdrawn 17,000 portions of moose lasagna from its home furnishings stores in Europe after traces of pork were found in a batch tested in Belgium.

Ikea spokeswoman Tina Kardum said the product had only been on sale for a month when it was pulled off the shelves on March 22.

The company didn't announce the withdrawal publicly until Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet wrote about it Saturday.

Kardum said the company found out Friday that a follow-up test in Belgium confirmed the lasagna contained 1.6 percent pork. She said: "We have more information now. That's why we choose to inform now."

Ikea has previously recalled meatballs and other meat products sold in its cafeterias and frozen foods sections after tests showed they contained traces of horsemeat.

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Made in Korea: Rare look at jointly run factories

There is a North Korean factory with no portraits of the country's late leaders on the walls, no North Korean flags, no hand-painted posters screaming party slogans. Everything from the tissues to the toilets comes from South Korea.

Bent over bolts of wool and rayon, North Koreans work quietly to the hum of sewing machines making shirts, suits and overcoats that will go out with vaguely Italian names. Virtually the only hint of North Korea in the factory is a calendar on the wall that proclaims, "The Great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il Will Always Be With Us."

Today, this factory and others in the Kaesong industrial complex, managed by South Koreans and staffed by North Korean workers, face the prospect of closure. Since Wednesday, North Korea has refused to let in South Korean managers and trucks bearing food, materials and supplies.

It's seen as punishment for Seoul's decision to forge ahead with joint military drills with the United States that continue through April and have incensed Pyongyang, which sees the exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion. Restricting travel through the armed border is also a way to remind the South Koreans that a state of war remains intact on the Korean Peninsula 60 years the fighting ended with a truce. Pyongyang also is angry with Seoul for backing tightened U.N. sanctions on North Korea for conducting a banned nuclear test in February.

North Korea has been raising its war rhetoric for weeks now, but so far, Kaesong is the main casualty. More than 500 South Koreans remained there Saturday and are free to stay, but their companies are beginning to run out of supplies. They hope this disruption ends up being similar lasts no longer than one in 2009 that lasted about a week.

For nearly a decade, the sprawling complex on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone has been held up as a crucible of reconciliation, a test case for how reunification of the two Koreas might look. But as relations deteriorated in recent years, it became a prickly subject for South Korea.

The last media visits to factories from the South Korean side are believed to have been in 2007. In September, The Associated Press visited from the North Korean side, accompanied by officials from the North-South management committee that administers the special economic zone.

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Kaesong seems like a slice of South Korea transplanted in North Korea, especially when driving in from Pyongyang.

From downtown Kaesong, the road to the factory park on the outskirts of town runs past rice paddies and simple cottages with tiled roofs. Oxen trudge along the sides pulling carts and a man cycles by with a dead pig strapped to back of his bicycle. A woman sitting by the side of the road has her head in her hands, a small cooler of drinks for sale next to her.

Enter the military-guarded gate to the vast, sparsely populated factory park and you'll find a Hyundai Oilbank gasoline station, two convenience stores with plastic picnic tables outside and a branch of the South Korea's Woori Bank. There are blue road signs in English and Korean, and lane dividers and bike lanes on the road. None of those things exist in the rest of North Korea.

The complex has stoplights, unlike downtown Kaesong, but not much traffic besides the Hyundai buses that shuttle North Koreans workers to and from work, and the Kia, Hyundai and Ssangyong cars driven by the South Korean managers.

The complex, conceived following the historic 2000 summit between late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, broke ground in 2003. The first factory opened in December 2004. The plan was for South Korean firms to build 500 factories as part of a pledge to help develop North Korea's economy, according to Pak Chol Su, vice director of the General Bureau for Central Guidance, which manages Kaesong.

Pak, who is North Korean, noted that a June 2000 agreement signed by both Korean governments calls for improving North Korea's economy "equally, on the principle of mutual assistance."

Today, some 120 South Korean businesses have factories in Kaesong. He said they employ about 51,000 North Koreans, mostly women, making the complex the biggest provider of jobs in Kaesong, the country's third-largest city. Shoes and clothing make up 70 percent of the goods produced; the rest are largely chemical and electrical products, he said.

Hundreds of South Koreans run the factories, some living during the week in Kaesong and others commuting every day across the border. Goods, supplies and food are brought in by truck every morning, and leave in the late afternoon with finished products.

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South Korean manager Chun Eun-suk took AP on a tour of GS Bucheon, which produces cables and wires that will make their way into Samsung and LG refrigerators and washing machines assembled in factories in China and Southeast Asia. A North Korean official accompanied the AP, which was denied permission to speak with North Korean workers.

Workers in light blue jackets with the company name stitched on the pocket deftly handled multicolored wires.

"It's very simple work. They can learn this in a day," said manager Hong Ha-sung.

The propaganda on the walls here is about health and safety: "Beware of fires!" ''Wash your hands carefully!" There's a pingpong table with balls emblazoned with the word "peace" — sometimes the competition is fierce.

The interaction between the North and South Koreans is collegial and cordial, but Chun and Hong say socializing is kept to a minimum. The South Koreans dine separately from the North Koreans, eating food brought from the South and stored in their own refrigerator.

The question of how North Korean workers are paid is a thorny one, with many believing that the government takes a large cut of the salaries. Hong said he pays the employees directly.

The average Kaesong worker makes more than $110 a month, said Pak, the North Korean official. Trainees make less, but an "incentive-based" system allows workers to earn as much as $150 a month, he said.

"With overtime, they can earn bonuses," Pak said, speaking to AP in September in a conference room with portraits of Kim Jong Il and North Korean founder Kim Il Sung hanging behind him. Discussion of bonuses and incentives has been associated with a directive from current leader Kim Jong Un, son of Kim Jong Il and grandson of Kim Il Sung.

At clothing maker ShinWon's three gleaming, futuristic buildings, the toilets are South Korean and the sewing machines are Japanese. Even the pantry is stocked with South Korean snacks.

Workers are dressed in blue bonnets and in uniforms with "ShinWon" stitched in English on the spot where they'd normally wear a loyalty pin bearing their leaders' portraits.

At one cutting table, a South Korean manager confers quietly with two North Korean women about a design. The women nod in agreement. A sign taped up on a wall says "Accuracy" in Korean.

ShinWon President Hwang Woo-seung said that although Kaesong's tax regulations and other rules can be complicated, it's worth it to be able to employ North Korean workers.

"First of all, we speak the same language," he said in Kaesong in September. "And secondly, they're very skilled with their hands."

On Saturday, ShinWon said its 15 South Korean managers were staying in Kaesong. The company has enough raw materials to last through early May but will soon run out of gas, fuel and food if the entry ban continues, a spokesman said Saturday.

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The complex is about more than money, said Cho Dong-ho, a North Korea expert at Ewha Womans University in Seoul: "It is a string that links the two Koreas."

"If it evaporates, there is officially nothing in terms of economic ties between the countries," he said.

South Korea's new unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, says new President Park Geun-hye is open to dialogue with North Korea.

"We have repeatedly said this, but what we want from the Kaesong industrial complex is stable maintenance and development," he said in Seoul on Friday.

Inside Kaesong, managers and workers avoid talking politics. In Seoul, South Korea is called "hanguk" in Korean; in Kaesong, they simply call the country "Choson," the pre-division name for Korea.

Similarly, the labels on ShinWon's garments read simply: Made in Korea.

"We don't say 'DPRK' or 'North Korea,'" Hwang said. "Southerners won't know if it's made in South Korea or North Korea — but the quality is just as high."

He said he's looking forward to the day when everything made on the Korean Peninsula can bear that same label.

"We're waiting for the day when the country will be reunified," he said. "We're working hard every day."

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Associated Press writer Sam Kim contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

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Facebook seeks to reclaim edge with bold Home phone

It's not the Facebook phone or operating system that some were anticipating. But the Home service Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled yesterday for Android phones may be the best Facebook yet, experts said.

Rather than seeing icons for email, maps and other services when they first turn on their phones, users who download the new software beginning on April 12 will be greeted with photos and updates from their Facebook feeds.

"It's essentially a start page where you turn on your phone and you start on Facebook," said David Gerzof Richard, founder of BIGfish and professor of social media and marketing at Emerson College.

The idea is to bring content straight to users without requiring them to go to apps. A new feature called "chat heads," for example, will allow people to communicate with their friends directly from their phone's home screen without opening a separate app.

"Essentially, Facebook is betting that people might want their devices to be less about apps focused on tasks — email, photos, music — and more about people they want to connect with," said N. Venkat Venkatraman, professor of management at Boston University. "Most analysts have missed the nuanced shift that Zuckerberg is unveiling. Most expected that there would be a revolutionary phone or new operating system. But I think this is a clever evolution that could position Facebook as a rule maker on the mobile Web."

After the announcement, Facebook's stock rose 82 cents, or 3.1 percent, to close at $27.07, still 23 percent below its initial public offering price of $35.

"Home" comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from phones and tablet computers. Of its 1.06 billion monthly users, 680 million log into Facebook using a mobile gadget.

"I think this is the exact right move for Facebook," said Todd Van Hoosear, owner of Fresh Ground, a Cambridge social media consulting group. "Last year, Zuckerberg admitted they were failing on the mobile front. They had invested all this money in html, and that model wasn't working for them. ... Is this the Facebook phone everyone wants? Not really. But it's what Facebook needs to do. Facebook has been fighting Facebook fatigue. Some people are getting a little bored with it and spending less time on it. This is a great way to reclaim those people."

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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Facebook barges into Google turf with Home

NEW YORK — Facebook Home, the new application that takes over the front screen of a smartphone, is a bit of a corporate home invasion. Facebook is essentially moving into Google's turf, taking advantage of software the search giant and competitor created.

Facebook Home will operate on phones running Google Inc.'s Android software and present Facebook status updates, messages and other content on the home screen, rather than making the user fire up Facebook's app. The software will be available for users to download on April 12 and will come preloaded on a new phone from HTC Corp., sold by AT&T Inc. in the U.S.

Google gives away Android, the most popular smartphone software in the world, in the hope that it will steer phone users toward Google services, such as Maps and Gmail, and the ads it sells. Compared to ads targeting PC surfers, mobile ads are a small market, but it's growing quickly. Research firm eMarketer expects U.S. mobile ad spending to grow 77 percent this year to $7.29 billion.

With Home, Facebook is inserting itself between users and Google, diverting them to the social network's own ads and services. It's taking advantage of the fact that Google places few restrictions on how phone manufacturers and software developers modify Android. By contrast, Facebook Home would not work on the iPhone without approval from Apple Inc., and close collaboration with the company.

"Facebook Home can only reside on Android because only Google was daft enough to allow it," said independent phone analyst Horace Dediu, via Twitter.

At the launch event Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Google was aware of the project, but Facebook didn't work them to create Home. Asked if he believed Google could change tactics and restrict apps like Home, he said it was theoretically possible, but highly unlikely for Google to do a "180-degree change" in its stance on Android's openness.

It's not the first time a big Internet company has co-opted Android: Amazon.com has gone much farther with its Kindle Fire tablets. They run a version of Android that strips out all Google services, replacing them with Amazon's equivalents. Barnes & Noble Inc. does the same thing with its Nook tablets. These devices lie outside the Google system, whereas phones running Facebook Home still come with Google apps like Maps and the Play Store for music, movies and applications.

The Play Store has many examples of downloadable applications that modify the Android home screen — so-called "launchers." Home, however, represents the first time a major Internet company and Google competitor has created a downloadable launcher.

J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said Home may increase the pressure on Google to find ways to get people to spend more time on its Plus social network, which so far hasn't been as magnetic as Facebook's hangout. Anmuth also thinks the communication tools built into Home could decrease usage of Google's Gmail and Gchat services.

But Zuckerberg said the app will help Google.

"I think this is really good for Android," he told the audience at the launch event in Menlo Park, Calif. Developers do their best work on the iPhone first, but with Home, Facebook is putting Android first. If consumers want the Facebook Home experience, they'll have to get an Android phone.

In a statement, Google seemed to agree. "This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular," it said.

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AP Technology Writers Barbara Ortutay and Michael Liedtke contributed to this report.

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Official: Obama proposes cuts to Social Security

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's proposed budget will call for reductions in the growth of Social Security and other benefit programs while still insisting on more taxes from the wealthy in a renewed attempt to strike a broad deficit-cutting deal with Republicans, a senior administration official says.

The proposal aims for a compromise on the Fiscal 2014 budget by combining the president's demand for higher taxes with GOP insistence on reductions in entitlement programs.

The official, who spoke on a condition of anonymity to describe a budget that has yet to be released, said Obama would reduce the federal government deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years. The president's budget, the first of his second term, incorporates elements from his last offer to House Speaker John Boehner in December. Congressional Republicans rejected that proposal because of its demand for more than a $1 trillion in tax revenue.

A key feature of the plan Obama now is submitting for the federal budget year beginning Oct. 1 is a revised inflation adjustment called "chained CPI." This new formula would effectively curb annual increases in a broad swath of government programs, but would have its biggest impact on Social Security. By encompassing Obama's offer to Boehner, R-Ohio, the plan will also include reductions in Medicare spending, much of it by targeting payments to health care providers and drug companies.

Obama's budget proposal also calls for additional tax revenue, including a proposal to place limits on tax-preferred retirement accounts for wealthy taxpayers. Obama has also called for limits on tax deductions by the wealthy, a proposal that could generate about $580 billion in revenue over 10 years.

The inflation adjustment would reduce federal spending over 10 years by about $130 billion, according to past White House estimates. Because it also affects how tax brackets are adjusted, it would also generate about $100 billion in higher taxes and affect even middle income taxpayers.

The reductions in the growth of benefit programs, which would affect veterans, the poor and the older Americans, is sure to anger many Democrats. Labor groups and liberals have long been critical of Obama's offer to Boehner for including such a plan.

Administration officials have said Obama would only agree to the reductions in benefit programs if they are accompanied by increases in revenue, a difficult demand given the strong anti-tax sentiment of House Republicans.

That Obama would include such a plan in his budget is hardly surprising. White House aides have said for weeks that the president's offer to Boehner in December remained on the table. Not including it in the budget would have constituted a remarkable retreat from his bargaining position.

Obama's budget, to be released next Wednesday, comes after the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-run Senate passed separate and markedly different budget proposals. House Republicans achieved long-term deficit reductions by targeting safety net programs; Democrats instead protected those programs and called for $1 trillion in tax increases.

But Obama has been making a concerted effort to win Republican support, especially in the Senate. He has even scheduled a dinner with Republican lawmakers on the evening that his budget is released next week.

House Republicans, however, have been adamant in their opposition to increases in taxes, noting that Congress already increased taxes on the wealthy in the first days of January to avoid a so-called fiscal cliff, or automatic, across the board tax increases and spending cuts.

Congress and the administration have already secured $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years through budget reductions and with the end-of-year tax increase on the rich. Obama's plan would bring that total to $4.3 trillion over 10 years.

As described by the administration official, the budget proposal would also end a loophole that permits people to obtain unemployment insurance and disability benefits at the same time.

Obama's proposal, however, includes calls for increased spending. It would make pre-school available to more children by increasing the tax on tobacco.

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KFC to offer boneless chicken

NEW YORK — KFC is stripping out the bones to make it easier for people to eat its chicken.

The fast-food chain is introducing fried boneless chicken chunks on April 14 as an alternative to its traditional breast, thigh and drumstick pieces.

The new offering reflects the growing popularity of nuggets and strips that are easier to eat on the go. KFC says nearly four out five servings of fried chicken in the U.S. are now boneless.

Based on customer trends, the company says chicken with bones could eventually be pushed off its menu.

The new boneless, skinless pieces are about twice the size of KFC's crispy strips and come in white or dark meat. Customers can order them for the meal deals, which include two pieces, a side, a biscuit and a drink for $4.99. They also come in buckets, which include four pieces of boneless chicken and six pieces of chicken with bones for $14.99. The boneless chicken option costs the same as the regular fried chicken.

A piece of the boneless white meat has 200 calories and 8 grams of fat. A dark meat piece has 250 calories.

Spokesman Rick Maynard said it took two to three years to develop its version of boneless chicken, which performed strongly in test markets including Oklahoma City and Omaha last year.

KFC has more than 18,000 restaurants around the world, including more than 4,500 in the U.S. Its parent company Yum Brands Inc. also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, which have also been introducing major new menu offerings in recent months.

Shares of Yum Brands fell 67 cents to $67.06 in premarket trading Friday, in step with a broader market decline in trading ahead of the opening.

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US economy adds 88K jobs, rate drops to 7.6 pct.

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest in nine months and a sharp retreat after a period of strong hiring. The slowdown in job growth may signal that the economy is heading into a weak spring.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.6 percent, the lowest in four years, from 7.7 percent. But the rate fell last month only because more people stopped looking for work. People who are out of work are no longer counted as unemployed once they stop looking for a job.

The percentage of Americans working or looking for jobs fell to 63.3 percent in March, the lowest such figure in nearly 34 years.

Stock futures sank after the jobs report was released at 8.

March's job gains were half the pace of the previous six months, when the economy added an average of 196,000 jobs a month. The government said hiring was even stronger in the previous two months than previously estimated. February's job gains were revised to 268,000, up from 236,000. January job growth was raised to 148,000, up from 119,000.

Several industries cut back sharply on hiring in March. Retailers cut 24,000 jobs after averaging 32,000 in the previous three months. Manufacturers cut 3,000 jobs after adding 19,000 the previous month. Financial services shed 2,000.

The number of people either working or looking for work fell by nearly 500,000 last month. It was sharpest such drop since December 2010. And the number of Americans who said they were employed dropped nearly 210,000.

Average hourly pay rose a penny, the smallest gain in five months. Average pay is just 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier, trailing the pace of inflation, which rose 2 percent in the past 12 months.

"This is not a good report through and through," Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at brokerage firm BTIG, said in a note to clients.

Economists had hoped that the bigger pay increases in recent months would continue and boost Americans' ability to spend.

Some economists said they expect a slowdown this spring, though not as severe as in the past three years.

"We don't anticipate the slowdown becoming too severe, not when the housing recovery is firing on all cylinders, but it is a reminder that the U.S. is still unable to sustain what used to be just average rates of growth," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

The decline in the work force reflects several trends, economists say: Many of those out of work become discouraged and give up on their job hunts. And as the population ages, more people are retiring.

Most analysts think the economy strengthened from January through March, helped by the pickup in hiring, a sustained recovery in housing and steady consumer spending. Consumers stepped up purchases in February and January, even after Social Security taxes increased this year.

Still the higher taxes have reduced paychecks. And many economists say steep government spending cuts that began taking effect March 1 will slow growth in the spring and summer.

Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, thinks the economy expanded at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter. But he forecasts that growth will slow to a 2 percent annual pace in the current second quarter, and then rebound after the impact of the government spending cuts fades.

Economists expect the spending reductions will shave half a percentage point off economic growth this year. Many federal workers will experience pay cuts. And government contractors will likely cut jobs. That could also drag down overall monthly hiring.

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Arthur Frommer gets Frommer brand back from Google

NEW YORK — Travel guru Arthur Frommer said Wednesday that he has reacquired rights to his travel guidebook brand from Google, and that he intends to resume publishing Frommer guidebooks.

Google acquired the Frommer brand last summer from the Wiley publishing company, but last month Skift.com reported that Google was "quietly pulling the plug" on publishing Frommer's books.

Google refused comment at the time, but Arthur Frommer confirmed in a phone call from his home Wednesday night that he had reacquired rights to the brand.

"It's a very happy time for me," Frommer, 83, told The Associated Press. "We will be publishing the Frommer travel guides in ebook and print formats and will also be operating the travel site Frommers.com."

Frommer sold the Frommer line of travel books to Simon & Schuster in 1977. The books had more recently been published by Wiley & Sons.

Frommer started the guidebook enterprise in 1957 with a self-published book called "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day." It was an expanded version of a small travel guide he had written for American soldiers in Europe. With its emphasis on budget travel, it became an immediate best-seller and launched a guidebook company that became one of the world's most recognized travel brands. Frommer's daughter Pauline Frommer also has written numerous guidebooks for the brand and, like her father, is a much-quoted expert on consumer travel and related issues.

Google confirmed in an email Wednesday night that the brand was returned to its founder, but added that the travel content it had acquired from Frommer's and Wiley had been integrated into various Google services such as Google Plus.

The terms of the deal between Google and Frommer were not disclosed.

Pat Carrier, who has watched the ups and downs of the travel publishing industry as the former owner of the Globe Corner Bookstore in Cambridge, Mass., said the whole thing was "baffling."

"I don't get why they (Google) bought Frommer's and then decided to essentially shut down the whole enterprise," he said. "Do they really think the content that they acquired from the Frommer's deal has a longer shelf life than yogurt?"

Jason Clampet, who reported Google's decision to cease publishing Frommer content on Skift.com, called Frommer's reacquisition of his brand "fantastic news."

"Everyone I know was hoping this would happen once we saw that Google was just after content for Google Plus rather than the brand's history and potential," said Clampet, a former editor for Frommer's. "I think Arthur's and Pauline's passion will reinvigorate the series. There are dedicated readers both online and in print who will stay with a name they trust."

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Eyes on Facebook mobile event as company evolves

NEW YORK — Facebook is unveiling a new Android product Thursday, a move that comes as a fast-growing number of its 1.06 billion users access it on smartphones and tablet computers.

Advertisers are not far behind. Though mobile ads have been a big concern for Facebook's investors since before the company's initial public offering last May, some of that worry has subsided as Facebook began muscling its way into the market.

Last year, the company began showing ads to its mobile audience by splicing corporate sponsorships and content into users' news feeds, which also includes updates from friends and brands they follow. Among the challenges Facebook faces now is showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them.

The mobile advertisement market is growing quickly. That's thanks in large part to Facebook and Twitter, which also entered the space in 2012. Research firm eMarketer expects U.S. mobile ad spending to grow 77 percent this year to $7.29 billion, from $4.11 billion last year.

As for Thursday's event at the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, speculation has centered on a mobile phone, made by HTC Corp., that deeply integrates Facebook into the Android operating system. The move comes as Facebook works to evolve from its Web-based roots to a "mobile-first" company, as its mantra goes.

"What Facebook wants is to put itself at the front of the Android user experience for as many Facebook users as possible and make Facebook more elemental to their customers' experience," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.

EMarketer said Wednesday that it expects Facebook Inc. to reap $965 million in U.S. mobile ad revenue in 2013. That's about 2.5 times the $391 million in 2012, the first year that Facebook started showing mobile ads.

Clark Fredricksen, vice president at eMarketer, said it's "tough to speculate" how much effect Thursday's announcement would have on ad revenue.

At the same time, he says "there are some clear reasons why a deeper integration with mobile operating systems and handsets make sense for Facebook. At the end of the day, the more deeply Facebook can engage consumers, no matter what device or operating system or handset," the better.

Facebook's rival, Google Inc., makes the Android software that Facebook and HTC would be using under the widely speculated scenario. Google makes the software available on an open-source basis, meaning others including rivals are free to adapt it to their needs. Amazon.com Inc. does just that in modifying Android to run its Kindle tablet computers.

Facebook is No. 2 behind Google Inc. when it comes to mobile advertisements, and it isn't expected to surpass the online search leader any time soon. Google dominates the mobile search market with 93 percent of U.S. mobile search advertising dollars, according to eMarketer. Online music service Pandora Inc. is in third place when it comes to mobile ad dollars, followed by Twitter.

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Disney lays off staff at game developer LucasArts

LOS ANGELES — Four months after acquiring "Star Wars" maker Lucasfilm, The Walt Disney Co. is shutting down video game production at subsidiary LucasArts and laying off staff as it focuses on the less-risky, less-expensive path of licensing its characters and stories to other developers.

A Disney spokesman confirmed the layoffs Wednesday, but didn't say how many people were affected.

Website Kotaku said 150 people were laid off, citing an unnamed source. Two games that had been in production, "Star Wars: First Assault" and "Star Wars: 1313," were canceled, Kotaku said.

Disney has been moving away from games that are expensive to make for consoles, like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and toward apps.

One example of the licensing model is Rovio Entertainment Ltd.'s November launch of "Angry Birds Star Wars."

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Music service Rdio launches Vdio for TV, movies

LOS ANGELES — Rdio, the music streaming service started by a co-founder of Skype, is getting into video.

New and current subscribers of a $10-a-month unlimited music plan from Rdio will get $25 to spend in the new digital store for video, called Vdio.

The content will work on personal computers and Apple's iPad for now. It's opening at first to users in the U.S. and Britain. The latest TV episodes from shows such as "The Walking Dead" will sell for about $3 each and will be in high definition, while movies such as "Zero Dark Thirty" will cost from $3 to rent to $20 to buy.

Rdio Chief Executive Drew Larner said the plan is for users to get ideas about what to watch based on the music they and their friends love, and the other way around.

For instance, fans of Adele's hit single "Skyfall" might want to watch the James Bond movie of the same name, or viewers of the 1978 documentary "The Last Waltz" might want to listen to music by The Band, the subject of that movie.

"There's just so much interplay between film, TV and music. We just think this is going to be a natural combination," he said.

The company opted against a subscription video offering because the newest TV shows and movies would not be available that way, Larner said. Studios typically offer online subscription services such as Netflix Inc. only past seasons of TV shows, along with movies that have debuted in theaters months or years earlier. Larner said the company hopes to one day offer a plan that would give customers a selection of movies, TV shows and music for one price.

He didn't specify how many subscribers San Francisco-based Rdio has amassed since it launched in 2010 with the backing of Skype co-founder Janus Friis. But he said the rate at which new users come to the service, offered in 23 countries, has tripled since the company began spending money on advertising late last year.

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US unemployment aid applications jump to 385,000

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose to a four-month high last week, although the increase partly reflects seasonal distortions around the spring holidays.

Weekly applications increased 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly increase and the highest level since late November. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,250.

A Labor Department spokesman says it can be difficult to seasonally adjust the figures during the Easter holiday because the timing of the holiday varies from year to year. Economists warned before the report that the data could be volatile.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The recent increases could suggest that companies are cutting jobs, possibly because of steep government spending cuts that began on March 1. Other reports have pointed to that possible trend, although most economists have said that any reductions are likely temporary.

The government will issue the March employment report Friday.

Job growth has picked up in recent months. Employers added an average of 200,000 jobs per month from November through February. That's nearly double the average from last spring.

Stronger economic growth this year has spurred more hiring. A steady housing recovery has boosted home construction and prices. Higher home prices make Americans feel wealthier, which can spur more spending.

In February, consumer spending rose by the most in five months. And consumer confidence improved in March from the previous month, according to a survey released last week by the University of Michigan.

Two reports Wednesday, however, suggested companies may have grown more cautious last month. Services companies grew in March but at a slower pace than in February, according to the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group. Service firms, which include retailers, hotels, restaurants and financial companies, cut back on hiring and a measure of new orders fell.

And private employers added fewer jobs in March compared with February, according to payroll processor ADP. Construction firms didn't add any positions after three months of strong gains.

Several economists lowered their forecasts for hiring in March after Wednesday's reports. Still, many analysts cautioned that the ADP is not always an accurate predictor of the government's more comprehensive figures

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Obama to propose $100M brain mapping project

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is proposing a new investment into research to map the human brain in hopes of unlocking some of its mysteries.

The president planned to propose a $100 million investment for next year during remarks Tuesday morning, the White House said.

Obama mentioned the idea in his State of the Union address, comparing the potential to the Human Genome Project that mapped DNA.

"Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy. Every dollar," Obama said in the address to Congress in February. "Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer's."

Obama wants the research to involve private institutions as well as government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation. It will require the development of new technology that can record the electrical activity of more neurons in the brain and a study of the ethical implications of the advancements.

A White House statement said Obama would announce the brain research project, known as BRAIN, intended to "revolutionize our understanding of the human mind," as well as create jobs.

Obama's top science advisers would elaborate on the project's details later Tuesday, the White House statement said.

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Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris resigns

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has resigned following the launch of a government investigation into how the country's economy nearly collapsed last month.

President Nicos Anastasiades has accepted Sarris's resignation. The minister has faced strong criticism for his handling of the Cyprus's negotiations with its international creditors.

Sarris, who had headed the country's now defunct Laiki Bank last year in a bid to save it from collapse, told reporters he decided to step down to ease the investigation ordered earlier Tuesday.

Sarris, 66, was appointed finance minister after Anastasiades' conservatives won general elections in February, days before the island was overwhelmed by its financial crisis.

Anastasiades acknowledged accepting the finance minister's resignation, adding that "Mr Sarris', decision to submit his resignation, for reasons of political responsibility in order to ease the work of the Investigating Committee, constitutes an example of a new mindset in Cypriot political life."

Earlier Tuesday, Anastasiades appointed a panel of three former supreme court judges to investigate the country's plunge to the verge of bankruptcy.

He said that ordinary citizens who are shouldering the burden of "actions and omissions" by officials want to see those responsible punished.

Cyprus has been given a €10 billion bailout by its European partners and the International Monetary Fund, after its bloated banking sector threatened to destroy the economy. To secure the bailout, Cyprus had to agree to an overhaul of its banking sector, with bondholders, investors and savers in the country's two biggest banks taking a hit. Laiki, the country's second-largest bank, will be broken up with depositors with more than €100,000 taking major losses. Meanwhile the government confirmed at the weekend that savers with more than €100,000 at the Bank of Cyprus could face losses of up to 60 percent on their savings as part of the rescue deal.

Anastasiades urged the judges to kick off their probe by investigating his family's business dealings amid an accusation in an opposition newspaper that a company that is said to be co-owned by one of his relatives took money out of Laiki, days before the country agreed to its international rescue.

The new Finance Minister will be former Labor Minister Harris Georgiades, with Commerce Ministry Permanent Secretary Zeta Emilianidou stepping into the labor role.

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Grain futures fall, livestock prices mixed

CHICAGO — Grains futures fell sharply Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for May delivery dropped 23.75 cents to $6.64 a bushel; May corn fell 55.75 cents to $6.3950 a bushel; May oats fell 20 cents to $3.7625 a bushel; while May soybeans fell 14 cents to $13.9075 a bushel.

Beef and pork prices were mixed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

June live cattle fell 0.27 cent to $1.241 a pound; May feeder cattle added 2.60 cents to $1.4767 a pound; June lean hogs added 0.50 cent to 91.57 cents a pound.

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Chrysler US sales up 5 percent in March

DETROIT — Chrysler's U.S. sales rose 5 percent in March as the company sold more cars and trucks than in any month since the Great Recession began in December of 2007.

The strong numbers are another sign that Americans are buying cars in increasing numbers as their financial situation improves. U.S. car and truck sales are estimated to have reached their highest level in nearly six years in March, as buyers armed with tax refund checks were lured by flashy new vehicles and low interest rates.

Chrysler said it sold almost 172,000 cars and trucks in March, led by the Ram pickup with an increase of 25 percent. Pickup truck sales are recovering from a five-year slump as businesses start to replace older work trucks. Full-size pickup truck sales are expected to have risen nearly 15 percent in March, following big gains in February, the car pricing company Kelley Blue Book said.

Aging cars also are driving sales. The average vehicle in the U.S. is more than 11 years old because people held on to their cars and trucks due to economic uncertainty.

Sales of the Dodge brand, led by the Avenger midsize car, rose 15 percent from a year ago. But Jeep brand sales, which have led the company for several years, fell 13 percent. Even the Grand Cherokee SUV, which has boosted Chrysler sales for months, fell 10 percent.

Overall, Chrysler's strong sales growth from previous years is starting to slow. Last year the company's sales rose 21 percent.

Still, Chrysler's increase shows that auto sales remain a bright spot in the economy. Industry analysts estimate that total March sales reached nearly 1.5 million cars and trucks, a number not seen since May 2007. Total U.S. sales are expected to be up 3 to 5 percent over March of 2012. All automakers report U.S. sales through the day on Tuesday.

Alec Gutierrez, a senior market analyst with Kelley Blue Book, said the improving job market is boosting sales. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a five-year low during March. Low interest rates are also making new-car purchases more appealing, Gutierrez said. The average rate for a 60-month new-car loan is now 4.12 percent, down from 4.52 percent at this time last year, according to Bankrate.com.

And Gutierrez says tax refunds can also spur purchases. The average federal tax refund this year is nearly $3,000, or enough to cover the down payment on a three-year lease of a Toyota Camry hybrid or a BMW 3-Series sedan.

Gutierrez said incentive deals — such as the $7,500 cash back offered for the Chevrolet Silverado pickup — are helping truck sales. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler each have a healthy supply of trucks for sale and GM wants to clear out older models before introducing its new Chevrolet Silverado in a few months.

"Consumers looking for a new pickup truck should not hesitate to pull the trigger," he said.

Crossovers are also gaining, thanks to redesigned models like the Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4. Small car sales are down slightly, in part because gas prices are relatively low. Gas averaged $3.64 per gallon at the end of March, down from $3.78 at the end of February and $3.91 in March of 2012, according to AAA.

As for the other carmakers, Volkswagen, GM and Chrysler should also post sales gains between 5 and 10 percent in March, analysts said.

Honda's sales rose nearly 9 percent, according to car buying site Edmunds.com. Honda's U.S. sales chief, John Mendel, estimates that sales of the recently redesigned Honda Accord midsize sedan increased around 30 percent last month. The Accord may have even outsold the Toyota Camry — the perennial best-selling midsize car — for the first time since October 2011.

Alan Batley, GM's U.S. sales chief, called March a strong month both for his company and the U.S. industry overall.

He expects industry sales ran at an annual rate between 15.3 million to 15.5 million for the month. The recent sales peak was 17 million in 2005, while the trough was an anemic 10.4 million recorded during the recession in 2009. March is expected to be the fifth consecutive month with an annual sales pace over 15 million, according to Edmunds.com.

"We've tracked well all month," Batey said in an interview last week at the New York International Auto Show. "We expect we'll show a nice increase."

Toyota Motor Corp. will likely report a smaller gain. Toyota's sales were unusually strong last March, when its supply of cars finally returned to levels seen before the 2011 earthquake in Japan.

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In India, dodging taxes is part of the game

NEW DELHI — In a country long defined by its poverty, it's easy now to find India's rich.

They're at New Delhi's Emporio mall, where herds of chauffeur-driven Jaguars and Audis disgorge shoppers heading to the Louis Vuitton and Christian Louboutin stores. They're shopping for Lamborghinis in Mumbai. They're putting elevators in their homes and showing off collections of jewel-encrusted watches in Indian luxury magazines. They're buying real estate in comfortable but unpretentious neighborhoods — neighborhoods thought of as simply upper-middle-class just a couple years ago — where apartments now regularly sell for millions of dollars.

They're just about everywhere. Unless it's income tax time. Then, suddenly, they barely exist.

The reality is simple: "There are very few people who are paying taxes," said Sonu Iyer, a tax expert at Ernst & Young in New Delhi. And tax dodging is everywhere. "It's rampant — rampant."

If the generalities of that have long been known here, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram stunned the country in late February when he proposed a new tax on India's top earners. The surprise wasn't the temporary 10 percent surcharge on those earning more than 10,000,000 rupees, or about $185,000, per year, but the number of Indians who fall into that category.

That number? Just 42,800 people.

"Let me repeat," Chidambaram told Parliament in his budget speech, making sure no one thought he had misspoken, "only 42,800" people say they earn that much.

In a country of 1.2 billion people, a country where years of staggering economic growth annually create tens of thousands of new millionaires and a recent slowdown has done little damage to a thriving luxury goods market, far less than one ten-thousandth of the population admits they are in the top tax bracket.

With so few Indians willing to come clean, the perennially cashed-starved government has to scrabble every year for revenue.

Among the rich, dodging taxes has become second nature, said Jamal Mecklai, CEO of Mecklai Financial, a Mumbai-based financial consulting firm. About 158,000 Indians are thought to be dollar millionaires, according to a 2012 Credit Suisse estimate, though some analysts believe the number is far higher.

"It's just taken as the reality" that most wealthy Indians are cheating, he said, adding that he pays everything he owes. India's top tax rate is currently 30 percent.

But it's not just the rich evading their taxes. Less than 3 percent of Indians file income tax returns at all, and officials say only about 1.5 million taxpayers say they earn more than 1,000,000 rupees per year, or about $18,000.

Most of those not paying have legitimate reasons. Well over half the population earns so little they don't have to pay income taxes. Despite its ever-growing population of nouveau riche, more than 400 million Indians still live below the poverty line.

Millions more people are exempt because regulations exclude agricultural income from taxes, no matter how much is earned. Since India has hundreds of millions of small farmers, and a powerful bloc of wealthy farmers, that's a tax break few politicians dare challenge. Various other tax breaks legally keep many more people off the tax rolls.

The bulk of those paying income taxes, experts say, are salaried employees whose companies are responsible for making their tax payments. While those taxpayers can fudge their numbers to an extent, using inflated receipts to magnify tax breaks on expenses like housing, it's extremely difficult for them to completely escape tax authorities.

But most everyone else — from the barons of family-owned businesses to doctors, lawyers and small traders — operate in largely cash economies that enable them, if they want, to hide most of their income.

The size of India's underground economy and the amount of lost taxes is widely debated, but even the lowball figures are immense in a country with a nearly $2 trillion GDP. In recent studies, experts estimated that anywhere from 17 percent to 42 percent of the economy operates beneath the official radar.

Billions of dollars are widely thought to be hidden in Switzerland, Singapore and other tax havens.

Then there is the strange case of Mauritius. More than 40 percent of foreign direct investment in India comes through this tiny island in the Indian Ocean. In part, that statistic reflects an India-Mauritius tax treaty that legally eases the flow of investment funds into India. But, experts say, it also allows Indians to launder vast amounts of untaxed wealth by sending their illegal cash to Mauritius, then "round-tripping" it back to India in the form of legal investments.

If it would take concerted effort to shut down complex, international money-laundering operations, catching at least some of India's high-end tax dodgers should be ridiculously simple. This is, after all, a country where flaunted wealth often seems as common as traffic jams.

How about targeting the buyers of the 25,000 luxury cars sold last year in India? Or the buyers and sellers of big-budget apartments? What about the people racking up thousands of dollars a month in credit card bills? Maybe tax investigators could go to those high-end malls, looking to see who is buying all the expensive shoes.

While the government says it recently has begun targeting some big spenders, mailing notices to tens of thousands of people they say may have underpaid their taxes, few believe officials have truly become aggressive.

"It's not really that difficult to chase down the tax dodgers," said Mecklai, the consulting firm CEO. "It's just a matter of putting the machinery in place."

So why isn't the government doing that?

The answers range from sheer incompetence to corrupt tax bureaucrats to a political class accustomed to making vast wealth on the side, and unlikely to do anything that might jeopardize its ill-gotten gains.

Certainly the Indian public sees official corruption as a major part of the equation.

"Of course I don't pay all my taxes," said a New Delhi businessman who spoke on condition he not be named because he was admitting to breaking the law. "Why should I pay my taxes while the politicians are getting richer and richer every day?"

Such talk is, experts say, the most commonly heard rationale for tax evasion, one entrenched by decades of political corruption and waves of official scandals.

But it doesn't explain everything. Iyer, the Ernst & Young tax expert, notes that the culture of tax-avoidance runs deep in India. She points particularly to the way buyers and sellers of real estate openly discuss how much of the price will be paid in "white" declared money, and how much will be paid under the table in "black."

"No one thinks of it as something to be ashamed about," she said. "In a country of holier-than-thou's, no one thinks that it's a blatant lie" to cheat on your taxes.

Embarrassment, she said, may be what India needs most of all.

"The moment this society establishes a stigma to it, I think you'd see a change."

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The Ticker

Consumer issues, 
tips forum set

Members of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation will join leaders from the Attorney General's Office, Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau to announce each agency's top five consumer issues of 2012.

The agencies also will offer tips to consumers to avoid similar issues in the future. The event will be held tomorrow at 1000 Washington St., Hearing Room 1E.

TOMORROW

• The Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index for March.
• The Commerce Department releases construction spending for February.
• Harvard Law School hosts Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter and Kenneth Starr for a panel discussion on civics education.
• A South Station expansion public meeting is held at One South Station.

TUESDAY

• Automakers release vehicle sales for March.
• Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. hosts a conference call to discuss its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012.

WEDNESDAY

• Natixis Global Asset Management President and CEO John Hailer addresses the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on immigration, education and global competitiveness at the Intercontinental Hotel.

THURSDAY

• An investor pitch event is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hosted by Future Energy in partnership with the MIT Energy Club and MIT Clean Energy Prize.

FRIDAY

• The U.S. jobs report for March is released.
• The Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for February.
• The Boston Children's Museum brings together business leaders, including Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, John Hancock Funds CFO Charles Rizzo, National Grid President Marcy Reed and Akamai Technologies CEO Tom Leighton with policymakers and educators to discuss early learning and development of young children at a summit held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

• James McDonough has been elected president and chief executive officer of Randolph Savings Bank. McDonough succeeds Jack Doyle, who is retiring.
• Boston-based online retailer Wayfair.com has announced five executive promotions:
• Ed Macri was named senior vice president of business intelligence and marketing.
• John Mulliken was named senior vice president of strategic initiatives.
• Dave Raymond was named vice president of operations process improvement.
• Jeff Steeves was named vice president of marketing.
• Laura Scott was named vice president of supplier operations.

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Come on baby, eat better

Here's something to make Hub parents go gaga: an organic baby food delivery company that cuts out the hassle of cooking by bringing nutritional purees right to their doors.

Purely Pears, which launches tomorrow, is the brainchild of longtime friends Sarah Washburn and Bridget Tivnan. The duo said their self-funded startup is part of a growing health trend that includes similar companies such as Fresh Baby Bites of San Francisco, Whirled Peas Baby Food of Austin, Texas, and Petit Organics of New York City.

"We thought, 'This is something that Boston is missing.' It's obviously working in other metropolitan areas," said Tivnan, 30, a Roslindale mother of two. "I would have used that service if Boston had something, but there was obviously a need for this market in our area."

"Childhood goes by so quickly, in the blink of an eye," added Washburn, 32, of North Reading. "For those few months, you can spend it on the floor with your children or you can spend it in the kitchen mashing sweet potatoes."

Tivnan has devoted herself full time to Purely Pears after five years as an event planner. Washburn, mother of a 1-year-old and owner of a domestic placement agency in Boston, said their idea was arguably first born when Tivnan gave her a book on purees for her baby shower.

Purely Pears offers 12 organic purees, some for babies aged four to seven months and the others for babies aged eight months and older. Flavors in the former group include Perfectly Sweet Potatoes, Beginners Broccoli and Petit Peas.

Customers can buy three-day, seven-day or one-month puree supplies for $29, $58 and $209, respectively. Orders must be placed before 10 p.m. Fridays on the company's website. All food is produced and packaged in less than 24 hours, and has a refrigerator shelf life of four days.

For now, the duo will make their own purees, and personally deliver packages to homes, workplaces and daycares within 20 miles of Boston. But both said they weren't worried about missing out on quality time with their young tykes.

"The goal is to work up to being able to hire people to do more cooking for us so we get that time back," Washburn said.

"I hope the reaction from moms is just relief that they can rest assured while they're at work or doing other things they need to do, this item is checked off their list," Tivnan added.

Dr. Caroline Apovian, director of Boston Medical Center's Nutrition and Weight Management Center, said organic baby food "hasn't become a craze until now," as concerned mothers try to distance themselves from feeding their children processed and packaged foods.

But Apovian added organic baby food delivery companies target professional moms who can afford their services, when lower-income families would actually benefit from them more.

"It's a Catch-22 because it's the professional mothers who tend to have the wherewithal and understand it's important," she said. "It's the mothers who don't have the wherewithal that need it the most. The food that is treated with preservatives tends to be cheaper."

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Cabbies battle app services

The taxicab and limousine industry has fired another salvo in its war on certain transportation apps by releasing a list of what its members call "rogue" services that endanger the public.

The report by the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association names three applications that operate in the Boston area: on-demand private-driver service Uber and ride-sharing apps SideCar and Tickengo.

"There's nothing wrong with technology; it just needs to comply with the regulatory structure to ensure that it doesn't take advantage of the public," said Alfred LaGasse, the association's CEO. "Some of these apps are basically 21st century hitchhiking."

Oleg Uritsky, a spokesman for Boston taxi owners, said the apps have no public oversight, including the semi-annual inspections that city cabs must undergo.

"This is not fair competition," he said.

In an email, Travis Kalanick, CEO and co-founder of Uber Technologies Inc., blasted the report, calling its accusations "baseless" and "fear-mongering."

"Uber's technology platform has helped millions of consumers who can speak to the safer, more reliable transportation they have enjoyed in cities around the world," Kalanick said. "And the thousands of legal, licensed and regulated transportation companies that Uber partners with can speak to the opportunity Uber has given them, allowing for better incomes and the rapid growth of their own small businesses."

SideCar and Tickengo could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, the lawyer representing the Boston Cab Association filed suit against Uber and said he was also looking into SideCar, arguing that both provide taxi service without meeting hackney division standards.

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Print in another dimension

Imagine that your old inkjet or laser printer could pump out three-dimensional objects on demand — kind of like those futuristic replicator devices that exist only in the world of "Star Trek."

You could create something frivolous like a new pair of shoes or smartphone case. Or decorative, like a miniature model of the Eiffel Tower. Or something medically helpful like a dental retainer. Perhaps a replacement air filter for your car.

This is where the world of 3-D printing is headed.

Also known as additive manufacturing, or in the medical field, bio-printing, companies are pushing into what has long been the sole province of architects and professional design and fabrication firms.

From Cambridge to California, startups are using a variety of materials and methods in an attempt to bring this technology to the mainstream.

Here in the Hub, the startup c, founded by a trio of MIT Media Lab alums, is nearly ready to ship its first desktop 3-D printer, a sleek silver and orange box called the Form 1.

With nearly $3 million raised on Kickstarter and a slew of high-profile investors, the Form 1 costs $3,299 — including 1 liter of resin (think 3-D ink).

Available for preorder on formlabs.com, the printer stands 18 inches high and has a roughly 12x12 footprint. It can fabricate objects about the size of two Rubik's Cubes.

Other companies are trying to introduce 3-D printing as well.

Brooklyn-based MakerBot is already selling the second generation of its aptly named Replicator, and a group of University of California at Berkeley students are working to develop a 3-D "vending machine," a printer that can receive orders via email and then build and dispense the finished product.

The big hurdle for this industry right now is that its buyers have to know 3-D CAD software to design multidimensional objects. That basically limits the market to engineers and architects.

But one local startup is producing a device that could spur mainstream interest in 3-D fabrication. The 3Doodler claims to be the world's first three-dimensional printing pen, and it had raised $2.3 million in Kickstarter funding as of last week. It allows users to "draw" lines of quick-cooling plastic that can be used to create designs and shapes that rise off the paper. The company says the price will be under $100, and it could be the tipping point for a 3-D generation that will come to think of printing as something that doesn't just happen on paper.

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India's top court to deliver Novartis judgment

NEW DELHI — A pending Supreme Court patent decision in India could reverberate throughout the pharmaceutical industry and beyond.

India's Supreme Court is to rule Monday on a landmark patent case involving Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG.

The international drug makers have been pushing for stronger patent protection in India to regulate the country's $26 billion generic drug industry, which they say often flouts intellectual property rights. They warn that a rejection of Novartis' position could discourage new research and refinement.

At issue is a legal provision in India's 2005 patent law aimed at preventing companies from getting fresh patents for minor changes to medicines — a practice known as "evergreening."

The drug in question is called Gleevec and it's used to treat leukemia and other cancers. It costs $2,600 a month while the generic version available in India costs around $175 per month.

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