this is "nightly business report" with tyler mat sue herera. down arrows. further from record territory after a softer than expected read from the labor market and the economy. >> hear arguments over a centerpiece of the affordable care act and appear very divided. >> run et over. the u.s. home to so much crude. is it running out of storage space for all of it? all that and more for "nightly business report," march 4th. >> welcome. glad you're with us. investors took another step back despite a record this afternoon from the federal reserve that the u.s. economy continued to expand through most of the country. according to study of regional conditions consumer spending was higher and broader across a range of economic sectors but

today's tone was set by this morning's adp labor report. the private sector added 212,000 jobs in february. not bad but fewer than expected. service sector activity edged up last month but wasn't enough to get investors excited about stocks. by the close, the dow jones industrials sank 106 to 18,096. nasdaq fell nearly 13 and the s&p off 9 points. steve liesman has more on today's reports and the state of the american economy. >> reporter: neither severe winter weather nor west coast port shutdowns or layoffs from lower oil prices kept from the rounds of moderate and steady growth. the federal reserve's so-called beige book the collection of economic anecdotes from the district was full of troubles plaguing the u.s. economy but concluded the growth keeps chugging along. consumer spending continues to rise and retailers are

optimistic about the months ahead. job gains reported across a broad range of industries. >> there are certainly going to be weather in all of this but as we look at what's more important, what's going to drive fed monetary policy et cetera it's going to be the jobs number and my guess, we're going to see something in line with the last few months. north of 250,000 jobs in the economy that continues to create jobs at a pretty good pace. >> reporter: on track for 112,000 jobs report back to march of 2013 came from the report of the private payroll company adp. based on its own data adp estimates 212,000 private sector jobs in february. that's a bit below the street's estimate of 240,000 private and government jobs but close enough that economists didn't change their view on the report coming friday from the government. if accurate job growth for the 12 months ending in february would soar to 3.3 million, a level not seen since 2000.

there are skeptics who worry the u.s. would succumb to the pressure a federal reserve intent on raising interest rates as soon as this summer or a winter that seems equally intense on overstaying its welcome through the spring but so far, the u.s. has faced those challenges and like the post-man continue to deliver. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. >> mark zandi joining us now. welcome back. good to see you. >> thank you, sue. >> how do you interpret the data? we were saying yes, job growth is good but has it slowed down a little bit from what we've seen recently? >> yes, it has slowed but it's off from a very torrid pace over the last three months we've created over a million jobs. that's over 300 k. that's not sustainable but 200,000, 250,000, i think that's where we are. that's a pretty good number by any historical standard. i think the economy is in good

shape. >> 3.3 million new jobs over the past year a long time for that. unemployment down in every single state. it's been decades since that has happened. why doesn't it feel better mark? >> i think it's wage growth. you know despite the very strong job growth there are so many unemployed and underemployed. it's taking a while to absorb all of those potential workers but the good news is at the current rate of job growth by mid next year i think we'll be back to full employment which means everyone who wants a job will have it and at that point, we should have some pretty strong wage growth and i think we will feel a lot better about things at that time. >> which may free up the fed to make a move on interest rates. at the same time the ecb and a lot of central banks around the world are either holding rates steady or cutting rates. what do you make of the data that's coming out of europe and what are your expectations out of the european central bank? >> they're better sue, because of the decline in oil prices.

a real big boost to the european economy because of the weaker value of the euro that's helping and the ecb just about ready to start quantitative easing that's drich driven down rates. that's helping. it feels like the european economy is gaining strength. i'm not arguing it will go anywhere real fast. this will be a slog for them but at the least, the european recovery will remain in tact and they'll move forward. >> what do you see for u.s. corporate profits and do you think that the profit growth which some people are worried about, mark, is going to be strong enough to support a rising stock market a market that just a couple of days ago set records? >> i expect profit growth roughly equal to the growth in the economy. the profit share should remain relatively stable. so the growth in the economy, the nominal growth if you include prices and sales growth and revenue growth should be about 5% to 6%.

economy-wide about a profit growth of 6%. if that's the case and given where interest rates are and the prospects of where they're headed roughly where they should be. roughly appropriately valued. >> what worries you if anything at all about the economy, the economic data that we see out there? is there anything you'd like to see look a little bit better? >> well one thing that worriles me me sue, the fed gives us a forecast in regard to short-term interest rates the next couple of years but the financial markets have a different perspective on things. they don't expect the fed to be as aggressive as the fed said they're going to be. at some point, the circle has to square and it's that point we could see a lot of volatility in the financial markets that could be disruptive to the recovery. i expect that sometime later this year once the economy appears as approaching full employment. >> we are forewarned. mark zandi with moody's and

analytics. policy meeting during the heart of the financial crisis in 2009. during that time when the economy was deep in recession and unemployment was 10%, the records show that janet yellin then the federal reserve bank of san francisco, argued strongly for the central bank to ramp up its efforts to increase growth. she pushed hard for more bond buying ahead of the open markets committee. somes prevailing sometimes not. but the 2009 transcripts cement her reputation as an easy money dove at that time. a surprise rate cut by the central bank of india. that was the second rate cut this year joining other central banks easing monetary policy. the main repurchase rate cut to 7.5% citing economic weakness. about a dozen cut rates in an effort to stave off deflation. hospital stocks rose today as the supreme court heard arguments challenging the

signature health care law. we told you the case focuses on a statute and whether some subsidies are illegal based on the law. shares of hospital operators rose as kennedy raised concerns about the negative impact on states if the government loses the case and subsidies go away for many owners of health care policies. tenant hca holdings, community health systems, all up more than 5%. hampton pearson has more from the supreme court. >> don't take our care! >> reporter: at the supreme court, it was a battle over tax subsidies that make health insurance affordable for millions of americans that triggered the latest legal showdown over the affordable care act. opponents asking the high court to limit those federal subsidies only to residents of the 16 states with their own health care exchanges. that adheres to the exact text

of the affordable care act. and it's a direct challenge to an irs interpretation of the rule making those subsidies available to everybody. >> what the internal revenue service has done isn't fair. it isn't right. and it isn't legal. >> reporter: inside the high court, justices tested the lawyers op both sides. the courts' liberals challenged michael carbon over his limiting the subsidies. justice ruth bader ginsburg said cutting off in the 40 states with federal government only exchanges would be disastrous. more people will exit the market because premium will be too expensive for them and you will then again raise the premium because you'll have very sick people buying insurance. the consequences are an unsustainable market. when it's the governor's turn don was hit by questions from justices antonin scalia and

talked about subsidies established by the state. justice alito even suggested it might be to give the federal government time to act. for much of today's 90 minute oral argument, chief justi roberts was silent. when it was hanging in the balance, it was the chief justice who cast the deciding vote. the latest challenge is expected in late june. for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson at the supreme court. president obama signed a bill today to the department of homeland security officially ending the standoff. republicans tried to use the legislation to repeal the president's executive actions on immigration. the senate's attempt to override president obama's veto

of keystone pipeline legislation today. tally came up five votes shy of the 67 needed to reverse the veto. needed the bill not the pipeline i.t.tself because bill interfered with the branch review of the state project. it's in the final stages. a no-go decision could come from the white house. to energy now. exxonmobil became the latest to trim its budget. it will cut capital spending by 12% to $34 billion. however, the company still plans to increase production volumes and start a handful of new projects in the coming years. shares of exxonmobil fell just slightly today. in the energy markets, crude oil prices slid in early trading on another big build in inventories making it the eighth straight week of record inventory levels but prices reversed from the saudi arabia oil minister that prices ought

to stabilize and iran stressed it's opposed to a nuclear deal with timelines attached. to settle up a dollar or barrel or so to $151.53 and brent crude was fractionally lower. >> ty just mentioned the crude and all the oil has to be stored somewhere. that place is cushing, oklahoma. as morgan brennan tells us there's so much of it that storage space may soon run out. >> reporter: cushing, oklahoma. population under 8,000. while it's small, this town plays a big role in the energy market. >> as someone based in oklahoma for a while, how important is cushing to the oil and gas industry? >> cushing is very importantly. it's called the crossroads pipeline of the world. >> reporter: cushing is home to miles of tank farms where crude oil is priced and stored before heading to refineries. but with west texas intermediate

covering at $80 a barrel, more crude is going in than coming out. it can be more to store it in tanks like these locking in on a higher price for delivery at a later date. analysts say the returns can be big. >> at today's market i look at the crude selling for $8 or $9 more. it costs me $3 or $4 to sell that barrel and a $5 barrel if i can secure that today and find storage to keep it. >> rep b as more oil goes into storage, space is beginning to run out. cushing could reach full operating capacity as soon as next month. a scenario that could have bearish implications for the market. >> once that cushing becomes full one thing that happens is 2.2 million barrels seen going

into storage in november now reenters the refinery supply market. that's extra barrels available to the refineries. >> the additional supply could pressure prices. commodity analysts at citi bank warn u.s. oil prices could fall $20 a barrel if supplies pushed out of storage into the market but for now at least, there's still room. in tank farms along the gulf coast and here in cushing. while it may not look like much the residents of this sleepy town have some $2.5 billion in black gold sitting in their backyards. for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in cushing, oklahoma. still ahead, what gaming companies are doing to find real money in a virtual reality

video game retailer erer game stop announcing a 9% increase to their dividend. giving it a yield at 3.3%. shares of game stop rose about 3.5% in today's trading. the multibillion dollar gaming industry is converging in san francisco where one of the largest conferences taking place. the largest companies expected to attend and as julia boorstin tells us those companies are battling for real money in an increasingly virtual world. >> reporter: virtual reality is front and center here at the game developers conference and also in barcelona where mark zuckerberg talked on stage over

obamacare o oculus's potential. >> that's future technology in that it's not a mainstream consumer thing today. but i believe that kind of continues this trajectory going from text to photos to videos to fully immersive scenes that you can be a part of. >> to continue that trajectory occulus' challenge here is to create games on a platform from established giants such as morveus and htt. >> you need things that make it appealing to people who don't know what virtual reality is. >> reporter: this week announcing an app store for virtual reality headset to enable developers to sell their games. >> okulus has to get the hardware out there. with the theme headset, there's

going to be some real competition out there. >> reporter: the global market for virtual reality could be over a $5 billion business by 2019. sony advantage right now, a built-in user base of its ps 4 console. >> we have a controlled ecosystem of people who own ps4 and content delivery mechanism. we have control of their own destiny which is a great thing and there's competition maybe which platform but if you're on a playstation 4, our morfeus is something you'd be using. >> reporter: with plans for selling in 2016 they're preparing for the next wave of gaming. >> i love virtual reality and i honestly couldn't be more excited to be part of this explosive launch. >> reporter: with most gaming hardware companies developing games and headsets, they count on the excitement to turn virtual reality into real

profits. for "nightly business report," i'm julia boorstin in san francisco. abercrombie posted a big drop in sales during the holiday quarter and that's where we begin tonight's mashlgt focus. the teen retailer set a strong demand for logo-centric clothing. the shares way down off 15.5% to $20.27. another teen retailer's earnings told the opposite story. american eagle managed to beat on both the top and bottom lines as fewer promotions and improved merchandise lifted and started experimenting with one size fits all clothing which helped it stand out. popped more than 7% to $15.96. bristol meyers squib saw rally after fda approval on a key drug. one of the drug maker's treatments is the first approved to treat lung cancer. shares gained about 6% to

$65.67. a senator is called for the federal government to investigate lumber liquidates from a report on cbs 60 minutes that some of the flooring products made in china contain higher than allowed levels of a known carcinogen. down to $35.64. way fair impressed the street with quarterlies. online seller of home furnishing saw revenues soar in the fourth quarter driven by customer growth and upbeat guidance and the stock was up 14.4% to $28.90. apple and hbo apparently in talks to team up. hbo gearing up for highly anticipated hbo now video streaming service and apple might be its partner. no details yet on how apple would be involved. the service expected to launch next month giving customers access to hbo with only a

broadband connection. shares of apple off a fraction $128.54. the close there, time warner a parent of hbo, down a few cents at 83.0. shares of netflix down after seeing some slowing in subscriber growth. the stock off 1% to $469.77. coming up retails revolution. why a big retailer like target is setting up a technology lab right in the heart of silicon valley and we have a rare look . auto loans are getting longer.

new data from experian. with six or more years surged in the fourth quarter while the length of the loan grew so did the total amount financed for a new vehicle of more than $28,000. a judge in a battle over hiring practices among silicon valley tech giants has tentatively approved the settlement worth $400 million. in the major class action suit workers accused apple, google and other tech companies of making an illegal agreement not to hire each other's employees, thereby limiting wages. far from target's minneapolis headquarters is a state-of-the-art technology lab in the heart of silicon valley how target and other retailers try to stay one sted ahead of fast-changing trends and courtney reagan got a rare look inside target's tech lab. >> reporter: when you think abou business in the bay area retail likely isn't top of mind but perhaps it should be. a number of retailers from target to walmart to american

eagle are planting flags in san francisco and silicon valley. why? to be close to the social media and tech titans. they're increasingly influencing shopping and to attract top talent and fuel innovation to be at the forefront at the future of shopping. at target san francisco lab where david newman and team are innovating to stay ahead of the competition, i was virtually transported to the express store near the university of minnesota using oculus goggles. >> the ability to pick up one of the items and play with it. you would hold it almost like the joy stick controller but might get to using your actual hands. >> reporter: while it's not mainstream to virtually shop now, it could be soon and target wants to be ready to personalize that experience. >> imagine if in the cereal aisle, you only wanted cereals gluten free so that's all that would be on the shelf. you can grab it, read reviews, put it in your cart and press a

button and when you got home it could be waiting for you. for our team it's about the future. what are these things outside of the core and the daily operations of target where we think there's a business opportunity. we're trying to see around the corner and think about the next 12 months 18 months what's that going to bring and how could we position growth and revenue by being there. >> reporter: many think it's around the corner and target is proet typing ideas to get a piece of the market. >> when you remove this sends you a text message. >> reporter: making reordering diapers a snap. while the group is working on a dozen ideas, the goal is to bring two to market per year. for "nightly business report," i'm courtney reagan. finally tonight, did you use all your vacation time? well according to a new report americans are throwing away more than $50 billion every year because they don't take days off from work. workers on average fail to use

five vacation days a year. for businesses all the unused vacation time could result in employee burnout and lower productivity. i think i used all of mine. >> i used all of mine. >> that's why we're so productive. that does it for "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm sue herera and we want to remind you this is the time of year your public television station seeks your support. >> i'm tyler mathisen on behalf of your public tv station, thank you for your support and we hope to see you right back here

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