USA Today - 09.10.2019

USA TODAY z WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 z SECTION B

INDEX CLOSE CHG
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. 26,164.04 y 313.
S&P 500 2,893.06 y 45.
Nasdaq composite 7,823.78 y 132.
T-note, 10-year yield 1.532 y 0.
SOURCESUSA TODAY RESEARCH, BLOOMBERG

Dow Jones Industrial Avg.

24,

26,

27,

28,

APRIL OCT.

AP

25,

313.

26,

TUESDAY’S MARKETS

PRODUCER PRICES FALL FOR
FIRST TIME SINCE JUNE

U.S. producer prices fell in September,
another sign that inflation remains
tame more than 10 years into Amer-
ica’s economic expansion. The Labor
Department says its producer price
index, which measures inflation before
it reaches consumers, fell 0.3% last
month, the first drop since June and
the biggest since January. Even core
wholesale prices, which exclude vola-
tile food and energy prices, tumbled
0.3%.

SAMSUNG PREDICTS DROP
OF 56% IN PROFITS FOR Q

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday pre-
dicted its operating profit for the last
quarter will fall by more than half from
a year earlier amid sluggish global
demand for computer chips. The
South Korean technology giant esti-
mated an operating profit of 7.7 tril-
lion won ($6.4 billion) for the July-
September quarter, which would be a
56.2% drop from the same period last
year.

UCHIDA PICKED AS NISSAN’S
NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO

Nissan has tapped the head of its
China business, Makoto Uchida, as its
president and chief executive, to help
lead a recovery from sinking profits
and a leadership crisis that followed
the arrest of its former chairman,
Carlos Ghos. Uchida is replacing Hiro-
to Saikawa, who resigned after ac-
knowledging receiving dubious in-
come.

RICHARD VOGEL/AP

High court won’t hear Domino’s case

Websites must ensure disabled access. 2B

UAW strike will slow new Corvette

Mid-engine Stingray faces production delay. 4B

Across the nation

News from every state. 5B

IN MONEY

STATES

IN AUTOS

AFP/GETTY IMAGES

MONEYLINE

Current Week ago

30 yr. fixed 3.73% 3.72%

15 yr. fixed 3.07% 3.20%

5/1 ARM 3.82% 4.00%

7/1 ARM 3.91% 4.00%

30 yr. jumbo 3.98% 4.06%

30 yr. FHA 3.18% 3.31%

SOURCE: BANKRATE.COM

Mortgage rates

USA TODAY SNAPSHOTS ©

battery power.

made by stihl.

ƒ

stihldealers.com

real stihl. find yours.

ƒ

**Also available for the AP Battery Series. Buy a battery set and get a second matching AP

battery at half price. Battery set includes power tool, battery and charger. Half price

battery offer is valid on matching battery through12/25/19at participating dealers while

supplies last.Not available in all markets. See dealer for details.©2019 STIHL

18STNUS019-42-143450-

Buy any AK Battery Set

get a 2ndbattery 1 2 off

• 
  

+

ALSO AVAILABLE FORap battery series.

If you’re concerned about being

tracked by Facebook and Google when

you’re out and about and by stores

when you enter their retail environ-

ment, get used to it.

Because, at work, your employer is

probably doing it now and will be even

more active very soon.

“This is the modern workplace

now,” says Brian Kropp, a group vice

president with business consultancy

Gartner. “If you work at a medium to

large-sized company, the odds are the

different behaviors you engage in will

be tracked by your employer, generat-

ed and collected by somebody in the or-

ganization,” he says.

By 2020, some 80% of businesses

will be monitoring employees, using a

range of tools and data sources, accord-

ing to Gartner. This is up from 50% cur-

rently and just 30% in 2015. Gartner sur-

veyed 239 “large” corporations to come

up with its conclusions.

If you work on a company-issued

computer or phone and access the firm’s

network, “they can get access,” says

Kropp.

When the subject is broached with

people, they tend to get defensive and

worry about Big Brother, says Kropff,

until he explains why the companies are

doing this.

It’s the Glass Door effect. Think of it

as another variation of those surveys

firms send out to see how staffers feel

about them. They are looking to monitor

e-mail, texts, social media exchanges

and our movements to gauge happi-

ness, says Kropff.

“The vast majority of companies us-

ing this type of information are doing it

to better understand their employees

and create a better environment,” he

says.

Privacy advocates are appalled.

“Employees should be extremely

concerned,” says Lee Tien, a senior staff

attorney with the Electronic Frontier

GETTY IMAGES

Your boss may be

snooping on you now

Employers aim to track happiness yet privacy issues persist

Jefferson Graham

USA TODAY

See MONITORING, Page 2B

General Electric’s

move to significantly low-

er its pension liabilities is

simply the latest in a

sweeping corporate pivot

away from guaranteed re-

tirement benefits.

GE on Monday an-

nounced that it would of-

fer lump-sum pension

buyouts to about 100,

former U.S. employees

who have not yet begun

receiving their pensions.

The company, which

has been facing pressure

to bolster its finances,

also announced plans to

freeze pension benefits

for about 20,700 salaried

pensioners at current lev-

els.

Taken together, the

moves illustrate how cor-

porate America has large-

ly ditched pensions,

which are swiftly becom-

ing a thing of the past for

active employees who

don’t work for the govern-

ment.

“In the bigger picture,

GE is just going the way

that most of the private

sector in the United

States has gone,” said Ali-

cia Munnell, director of

the Center for Retirement

Research at Boston Col-

lege. “It’s really over in

the private sector. The

Corporate

pensions may be a

thing of the past

Nathan Bomey

USA TODAY

See PENSIONS, Page 2B