Experts: Despite loss of 4,500 jobs, Massachusetts outlook good

Massachusetts lost 4,500 jobs in January after the state last year saw the largest increase in jobs since 2000, but experts and state officials said last month's losses are not a predictor of the entire year.

"I don't think that reflects any indication that the economy is slowing at all," said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economist at Northeastern University. "I suspect that this is an aberration and things will pick up in the coming months."

Andre Mayer, senior adviser at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said in a blog post it is tough to interpret January's numbers.

"The reported January job loss may signal a slowdown, but it may just as well be statistical error from the survey or seasonal adjustment, or simply a result of bad weather."

Clayton-Matthews said much of the losses could be due to seasonal trends.

"The decline in retail trade could be due to seasonable fluctuations that occur this time of year," he said.

The Bay State's unemployment rate in January fell 0.3 percent to 6.8 percent. The national rate in January was 6.6 percent. Last year, the state unemployment rate rose above the national rate for the first time since 2007.

State officials also released the final numbers for 2013, and said the state added 55,200 jobs last year.

"For our state, it's particularly exciting that we had such strong growth in 2013 because it means we are moving beyond a simple recovery," Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki said.

Clayton-Matthews said neither number changed his views on 2014, which he thinks will be a strong year for the state.

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Top brokers draw wealthy clients

Selling super high-end properties in Boston, those over $10 million, is a rarefied world dominated by a handful of Hub brokers.

Sometimes these brokers represent the sellers, sometimes they bring buyers to the deal.

Jonathan Radford of Coldwell Banker represented the seller of the Mason House, a 14,580-square-foot 11-bedroom mansion at 211 Commonwealth Ave., which sold last month for $12,736,000.

Radford said buyers are initially wowed by palatial homes like Mason House with features such as an ornate music room, an elevator and a five-car garage. But these signature spaces can also be intimidating.

"What can hold a buyer back is whether the home works with their current lifestyle," he said. "It's up to the agent to bring ideas to the table. If the top floor has three extra bedrooms you don't need, you bring in designers with ideas on converting the floor to an entertainment room."

Buyers are often personalities from the sports or entertainment worlds, business leaders and royalty, so not only is discretion critical, but so is having an in-depth knowledge of the high-end market here and internationally, Radford said.

"A buyer for one of these properties could come from around the corner or around the world," Radford said.

Negotiations are intense affairs, often involving not just the buyer and seller and their agents, but also each side's lawyers and financial advisers, said Radford.

"It's a juggling act keeping everyone in the loop and focused on getting the deal done," Radford said. "But the incentive is that these properties change hands rarely and for a buyer it could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

But even in super high-end homes that seemingly have it all, there can be something besides price that keeps the property from selling.

That's the case with 74 Beacon St., the so-called Benjamin Mansion, a six-floor townhouse with a media room, library, gym, elevator, a Brimmer Street garage space — and even a rooftop lap pool. It's on the market for $13.95 million and had been rented for the past year at an eye-popping $40,000 a month after failing to sell.

"As we started showing it again after the rental lease ran out, we saw that while the house has everything a person could want, what didn't click for many buyers was that the kitchen was on the garden level," said John Neale of Sprogis & Neale, which is the co-exclusive listing broker for the property along with Tracy Campion of Campion & Co.

The 8,450-square-foot six-
bedroom townhouse that overlooks the Public Garden had already undergone a three-year gut renovation several years earlier. But Neale convinced local owner/developers Peter and Elizabeth Georgantas of Peg Properties & Design to relocate the kitchen to the first floor, and to convert the former basement kitchen into a family room. Neale will relaunch the mansion when the renovations are completed next month.

Next door, Beth Dickerson of Gibson Sotheby's sold 
78 Beacon St., a six-bedroom, 7,878-square-foot renovated townhouse for $9.3 million last November, down from its original asking price of $10.75 million.

"High-end buyers at this level are all cash and can close quickly," said Dickerson. "At this price level they want garage parking and for everything to be newly done."

Will Montero of Gibson Sotheby's works as both a seller's and a buyer's agent, having brought the buyers for recent high-end property sales at the Four Seasons and The Clarendon. He's now working with three local CEOs who are looking to buy.

Montero is also the listing broker for a 9,817-square-foot Parisian-style mansion at 130 Commonwealth Ave., with its six parking spaces and 2,200-bottle wine cellar that's on the market for $13.9 million. The property is owned by a Singapore investor, who bought it for $9.5 million in 2012.

"A home like this in Singapore would cost $40 million, which appeals to international investors," Montero said. "And a lot of properties in this range are also bought by wealthy business or royal families whose children are, or will be, going to school in Boston. They want the extra space for when they come to visit."

Montero said his clients value agents who know about properties for sale before they hit the market.

"Buyers at this level are often very busy people and don't have a lot of time," Montero said. "You have to be able to get them what they want and hopefully be the first ones in. And to be able to close the deal."

He said the high-end brokers in Boston know one another and often bring buyers to one another's properties. And some properties are sold through private sales, never even hitting the market.

But Radford said he always urges sellers to list super high-end properties to get as wide exposure as possible and the most money.

"For those who do end up buying these homes, it's not just getting the right price, but they have to be the right person for the house," Radford said.

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Spotify snags Echo Nest

Music streaming company Spotify has bought The Echo Nest, a Somerville company that powers many online streaming radio services.

Founded at the MIT Media Lab, The Echo Nest has more than a billion data points about more than 35 million songs, information that is currently used by Spotify and many of its competitors, including Rdio, MOG and 
SiriusXM.

"We've been fans of The Echo Nest for a really long time and honored to have their talented team join Spotify," said Daniel Ek, founder and CEO of Spotify, in a release.

"Together, we're going to change how the world listens," wrote The Echo Nest co-founders Tristan Jehan, Brian Whitman and CEO Jim Lucchese in a blog post.

The Echo Nest will continue to operate independently in its Somerville and San Francisco offices.

David Blutenthal, whose app Moodsnap taps into both The Echo Nest and Spotify, said the acquisition makes sense.

"It's going to make Spotify better," he said.

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The Ticker

S&P sets new record on good jobless news

U.S. stocks mostly rose yesterday, with the S&P 500 closing at yet another record on better-than-expected jobless claims data and the European Central Bank's move to keep rates unchanged.

Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment insurance fell to 323,000, the lowest in three months, a sign of strength in a labor market that has been hobbled by severe weather.

New orders for U.S. factory goods, however, fell more than expected in January; and shipments also slipped, adding to signs of a recent slowdown in manufacturing activity.

Yesterday's milestone closing at 1,877.03 marked the S&P 500's fourth record closing high over the past six sessions.

Shaw's parent co. buying Safeway

AB Acquisition, the parent company of Albertsons and Shaw's and Star Market, is acquiring all outstanding shares of Safeway.

Safeway, the second-largest U.S. mainstream grocery store operator, said the deal is valued at about $9.4 billion.

The deal creates a grocery network of more than 2,400 stores and 250,000 employees.

No store closures are expected, according to the company.

Disney interactive laying off 700

Disney is laying off 700 people from the interactive unit that makes video games and operates websites, about a quarter of the workforce in the division.

A Walt Disney Co. spokesman confirmed the layoffs yesterday.

The move narrows the company's focus on mobile and social games that use key Disney characters.

Some games that Disney acquired when it bought social gamemaker Playdom in 2010 for $563 million, such as "Sorority Life," will be discontinued.

It is also discontinuing onetime hits, such as music play-along game, "Tap Tap Revenge."

Today

 Labor Department releases employment data for February.

 Commerce Department releases international trade data for January.

 Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for January.

THE SHUFFLE

New Albertsons Inc. announced that Jim Rice has been promoted to president of the Shaw's & Star Markets division based in West Bridgewater. Currently interim president of the company's Chicago-based Jewel-Osco division, Rice has more than three decades of experience in grocery retail.

Do you have a job announcement or promotion at your company? Send us the information along with a photo to bizsmart@bostonherald.com.

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Staples to clip 225 more stores

Staples Inc. will close up to 225 more stores — 
12 percent of its U.S. and Canadian locations — and cut $500 million in costs in the next two years as the office supplies chain continues to falter with retail consumers faced with a growing list of alternatives.

The Framingham company, which is continuing a restructuring as its sees more sales move online, yesterday reported a fourth straight quarter of declining sales. Sales dropped 11 percent to $5.87 billion from last year, missing analysts' expectations for 
$5.97 billion.

Staples' stock closed at $11.35 per share, down 
15.3 percent. It has fallen nearly 30 percent this year.

"Our customers are using less office supplies, shopping less often in our stores and more online, and the focus on value has made the marketplace even more competitive," CEO Ron Sargent said. "It's clear we underestimated the headwinds that we're facing."

Staples reduced its store footprint by more than
1 million square feet in 2013 through closings and downsizing. It now has 30 of its smaller, 12,000-square-foot stores open.

But the aggressive store closures are not going to be enough, according to analyst David Strasser of Janney Capital Markets.

"The company had years to close and shrink the store base, and stuck to its guns, and that decision is likely to impact them for the foreseeable future," he said in a research note yesterday. "Sales are declining at a faster pace than anticipated, and while Staples had attempted to rejuvenate the store through technology offerings, its limited ... assortment … as well as lacking the full line of top brands, like Apple, have made it tough to succeed in this category."

Staples.com sales improved 10 percent, however. More than 80 percent of Staples' online customers are business, as opposed to retail customers. As it continues to see fewer paper, ink and toner sales, the company has increased online offerings fivefold by adding technology products, furniture, facility and safety supplies, and items for restaurants and retail stores.

"But it will take time for those to gain enough traction to really benefit Staples' reported results," said R. Scott Tilghman, a B. Riley & Co. analyst.

Meantime, Staples likely will continue to take a hit due to its weaker-than-expected results and 2014 guidance, he said.

"Management credibility gets called into question because of that, and stock value will suffer," he said.

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CEO of bitcoin exchange found dead in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The American CEO of a virtual currency exchange was found dead near her home in Singapore.

A police spokesman said Thursday that initial investigations indicated there was no suspicion of "foul play" in the Feb. 26 death of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, meaning officers do not suspect murder.

The spokesman said police found Radtke lying motionless near the apartment tower where she lived.

Police have so far classified the death as "unnatural," which can mean an accident, misadventure, or suicide.

Radtke's company, First Meta, said it was "shocked and saddened by the tragic loss."

First Meta allows users of virtual currencies such as bitcoin to trade and cash out the currencies. It is one of several such exchanges.

The future of bitcoin has been under scrutiny since the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange in Tokyo last month.

Radtke had worked at other tech companies. A funeral for her was held Wednesday in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, according to Hartson Funeral Home.

Postings on her Facebook page showed her to be a believer in the potential of virtual currencies.

Last month, she linked to an article on entrepreneurs suffering depression, commenting above the link: everything has its price.

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Government orders Graco to explain recall

DETROIT — The federal government is ordering child seat maker Graco to explain why it didn't include 1.8 million infant seats in a recall for faulty buckles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Graco has until March 20 to explain why last month's recall of 3.8 million child seats didn't include infant seats, which have the same buckles that can get stuck on the child seats.

Graco has said the child seat buckles get stuck because children drop food or drinks on them. It is sending replacement buckles to owners for free. It will also send replacement buckles for infant seats if owners request them.

NHTSA says Graco will face fines of $7,000 per day if its response is late or incomplete.

Graco said Friday it will comply with the request for an explanation.

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Man said to create bitcoin denies it

LOS ANGELES — Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto said Thursday that he is not the creator of bitcoin, adding further mystery to the story of how the world's most popular digital currency came to be.

The denial came after Newsweek published a 4,500-word cover story claiming Nakamoto is the person who wrote the computer code underpinnings of bitcoin.

In an exclusive two-hour interview with The Associated Press, Nakamoto, 64, denied he had anything to do with it and said he had never heard of bitcoin until his son told him he had been contacted by a Newsweek reporter three weeks ago.

Nakamoto acknowledged that many of the details in Newsweek's report are correct, including that he once worked for a defense contractor, and that his given name at birth was Satoshi. But he strongly disputed the magazine's assertion that he is "the face behind bitcoin."

"I got nothing to do with it," he said, repeatedly.

Newsweek stands by its story, which kicked off the relaunch of its print edition after 15 months and reorganization under new ownership.

Since bitcoin's birth in 2009, the currency's creator has remained a mystery. The person — or people — behind the digital currency's inception have been known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto," which many observers believed to be a pseudonym.

Bitcoin has become increasingly popular among tech enthusiasts, libertarians and risk-seeking investors because it allows people to make one-to-one transactions, buy goods and services and exchange money across borders without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties. Criminals like bitcoin for the same reasons.

For various technical reasons, it's hard to know just how many people worldwide own bitcoins, but the currency attracted outsize media attention and the fascination of millions as an increasing number of large retailers such as Overstock.com began to accept it.

Speculative investors have jumped into the bitcoin fray, too, sending the currency's value fluctuating wildly in recent months. In December, the value of a single bitcoin hit an all-time high of $1,200. It was around $665 on Thursday, according to the website bitcoincharts.com. Bloggers have speculated that bitcoin's creator is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin.

After Newsweek posted the story on its website early Thursday, Nakamoto said his home was bombarded by phone calls. By mid-morning, a dozen reporters were waiting outside the modest two-story home on the residential street in Temple City, Calif., where he lives. He emerged shortly after noon saying he wanted to speak with one reporter only and asked for a "free lunch."

During a car ride and then later over sushi lunch at the AP bureau in downtown Los Angeles, Nakamoto spoke at length about his life, career and family, addressing many of the assertions in Newsweek's piece.

He also said a key portion of the piece — where he is quoted telling the reporter on his doorstep before two police officers, "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it" — was misunderstood.

Nakamoto said he is a native of Beppu, Japan who came to the U.S. as a child in 1959. He speaks both English and Japanese, but his English isn't flawless. Asked if he said the quote, Nakamoto responded, "No."

"I'm saying I'm no longer in engineering. That's it," he said of the exchange. "And even if I was, when we get hired, you have to sign this document, contract saying you will not reveal anything we divulge during and after employment. So that's what I implied."

"It sounded like I was involved before with bitcoin and looked like I'm not involved now. That's not what I meant. I want to clarify that," he said.

Newsweek writer Leah McGrath Goodman, who spent two months researching the story, told the AP: "I stand completely by my exchange with Mr. Nakamoto. There was no confusion whatsoever about the context of our conversation —and his acknowledgment of his involvement in bitcoin."

The magazine pulled together its thesis on the creator's identity by matching Nakamoto's name, educational history, career, anti-government bent and writing style to the alleged creator of bitcoin. It also quoted Nakamoto's estranged wife and other family members who said they weren't sure he is the creator.

Several times during the interview with AP, Nakamoto mistakenly referred to the currency as "bitcom," and as a single company, which it is not. He said he's never heard of Gavin Andresen, a leading bitcoin developer who told Newsweek he'd worked closely with the person or entity known as "Satoshi Nakamoto" in developing the system, but that they never met in person or spoke on the phone.

When shown the original bitcoin proposal that Newsweek linked to in its story, Nakamoto said he didn't write it, and said the email address in the document wasn't his.

"Peer-to-peer can be anything," he said. "That's just a matter of address. What the hell? It doesn't make sense to me."

Asked if he was technically able to come up with the idea for bitcoin, Nakamoto responded: "Capability? Yes, but any programmer could do that."

The nearest Nakamoto has come to working on a financial system, he said, was a project for Citibank with a company called Quotron, which provided real-time stock prices to brokerage firms. Nakamoto said he worked on the software side for about four years starting in 1987.

"That had nothing to do with skipping financial institutions," he said.

Nakamoto said he believes someone either came up with the name or specifically targeted him to be the fall guy for the currency's creation.

He also said he doesn't discuss his career because in many cases, his work was confidential. When he was employed by Hughes Aircraft starting around 1973, he worked on missile systems for the U.S. Navy and Air Force.

He said he also worked for the Federal Aviation Administration starting around 1999, but was laid off following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Getting hired by a military contractor was the reason he applied for and received American citizenship. He decided around that time to change his name, adding "Dorian Prentice" to Satoshi Nakamoto, partly to sound more Western. He said he picked "Dorian" because he says it meant "a man of simplicity" and referred to the ancient Greek people. "Prentice" alluded to his affinity for learning, he said.

As he pored over the Newsweek story with a reporter, Nakamoto repeatedly said, "Oh jeez," as he read private details about himself, quotes from family members and even specifics from his medical history.

"How long is this media hoopla going to last?" he said.

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US employers add 175K jobs despite harsh weather

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers stepped up hiring in February despite a blast of harsh winter weather, renewing hopes that the economy could accelerate this year.

February's gain of 175,000 jobs, up from January's 129,000, coincided with a rise in the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent from a five-year low of 6.6 percent. The rate rose because more people began seeking jobs but some didn't find them. That's still an encouraging sign: More job hunters suggest that people grew more optimistic about their prospects.

Friday's figures from the Labor Department were a welcome surprise after recent reports showed that harsh weather had closed factories, lowered auto sales and slowed home sales. Along with an increase in wages last month, the report suggests that some employers are confident that consumer spending will pick up in coming months.

"If the economy managed to generate 175,000 new jobs in a month when the weather was so severe, once the weather returns to seasonal norms ... employment growth is likely to accelerate further," Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

Investors welcomed the news, pushing up the Dow Jones industrial average about 44 points in late-morning trading.

The severe winter had less effect on hiring than most economists had feared. Construction companies, which usually stop work in bad weather, added 15,000 jobs.

Manufacturing gained 6,000 for a second straight month. Government added 13,000 jobs, the most in six months. Shipping and warehousing companies and retailers cut jobs.

Still, the monthly average of 129,000 jobs that employers have added from December through February marks the weakest three-month stretch since mid-2012. It's down from a 225,000 average for the previous three months.

The report presents "a picture of a grinding but positive recovery in the economy," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments.

The government revised up its estimate of job gains for December and January by a combined 25,000. December's gain was revised up from 75,000 to 84,000, January's from 113,000 to 129,000.

Average hourly pay rose 9 cents in February to $24.31, the biggest gain since June. Hourly wages have risen 2.2 percent over the past 12 months, ahead of 1.6 percent inflation over that time.

Friday's report makes it likely that the Federal Reserve will continue reducing its monthly bond purchases at its next meeting March 18-19. The Fed is buying Treasury and mortgage bonds to try to keep long-term loan rates low to spur growth. Fed policymakers have reduced their monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at each of their past two meetings to $65 billion.

Though harsh winter weather didn't appear to slow hiring much, the number of Americans who said weather forced them to work part time in February rather than full time reached the highest level in the 36 years that the government has tracked the figure. Hours worked fell.

Some recent reports hint that the economy will accelerate as the weather warms. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell last week and is at about the same level as before the Great Recession.

Applications for unemployment benefits essentially reflect layoffs. The decline suggests that companies are confident about future growth, because layoffs would rise if employers expected business to weaken. Instead, companies advertised more jobs online last month, according to the Conference Board. Online job ads rose 268,100 in February to 5.19 million.

Still, other factors are weighing on the economy. Auto makers and other manufacturers built up big stockpiles of goods in the second half of last year. That means they are likely producing fewer goods this year and is probably one reason factory orders are down.

Most economists forecast the economy will grow at a 2 percent annual pace or less in the first three months of the year, down from a 2.4 percent pace in the final three months of 2013. But they expect growth to accelerate in the spring and summer to roughly a 3 percent annual pace.

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AP Economics Writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

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Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

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Greek bank shares volatile after stress tests

LONDON — Greek banks saw their share prices swing sharply Friday after the country's central bank said they need to raise billions of euros to plug holes in their finances.

Late Thursday, the Bank of Greece said the sector needs to raise 6.4 billion euros ($8.9 billion) to be able to cushion potential future losses, an announcement that prompted some of the banks to outline their plans.

The most noteworthy mover was Piraeus Bank, Greece's biggest bank by market capitalization. Though its share price fell 3 percent, it had earlier fallen as much as 7 percent after the bank said it plans to raise 1.75 billion euros in a share capital increase. The prospect of more shares in circulation tends to weigh on the share price.

Though Piraeus' needs were estimated at 425 million euros, the bank said it is taking advantage of an improved market backdrop to raise more, adding that it aims to repay in full a 750 million-euro government investment.

The bank said the share capital increase will make it "strong enough to withstand extreme economic conditions and to decisively support the economic progress of the country."

The fact that Piraeus is confident enough to raise more money than it is required to do is a further sign of improvement in Greece's financial markets as the country's public finances heal gradually and the economy is expected return to growth soon. The ATHEX stock market in Athens is trading near three-year highs and the government's borrowing rates in bond markets have fallen sharply in recent months.

Greece has been hammered by a vicious financial crisis since late 2009 that developed into an economic depression. The economy has shrunk by around a quarter while unemployment has soared to over 25 percent.

Since May 2010, Greece has been dependent on billions of euros in rescue loans from the other European Union countries that use the euro, and from the International Monetary Fund. In return, successive Greek governments have had to slash spending, increase taxes and enact wide-ranging economic reforms.

Piraeus wasn't the only bank in focus Friday.

Eurobank said it was asking shareholders to give it the right to raise the share capital to "fully cover" the 2.95 billion euros the Bank of Greece thinks it needs. Its shares also fell, but recovered somewhat through the day, to trade 4.9 percent lower.

Shares in the National Bank of Greece rose 2.4 percent after it said it won't raise money to meet the 2.2 billion-euro hole estimated by the central bank. It said it will present a plan in April that "will address the capital needs without raising new equity capital."

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