Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

IN BRIEF

More economists expecting growth B&N exec plans more store closings Toyota back as top automaker Durable goods orders rise 4.6%

NEW YORK (AP) -- Economists are increasingly, but still cautiously, optimistic about growth in the year ahead with hiring expected to pick up in coming months.

A quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economics released Monday shows half of the economists polled now expect real gross domestic product -- the value of all goods and services produced in the United States -- to grow between 2 and 4 percent in 2013. That's up from 36 percent of respondents who felt the same way three months earlier.

About half expect sluggish or negative performance, down from 65 percent in October.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The head of Barnes & Noble's retail group, Mitchel Klipper, said in an interview published Monday in The Wall Street Journal that the company will have 450 to 500 stores in a decade. That's down from about 689 currently.

Klipper said the chain plans to close about 20 stores a year over the period.

A spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble said Klipper's remarks don't mark any change in its store closing plan.

"We have historically closed approximately 15 stores per year for the past 10 years," said spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating.

TOKYO (AP) -- Now it's official: Toyota is once again the world's top automaker.

Toyota Motor Corp. released its tally for global vehicle sales for last year Monday at a record 9.748 million vehicles -- a bigger number than the estimate it gave last month of about 9.7 million vehicles.

It already was clear Toyota had dethroned General Motors Co. as the Detroit-based automaker fell short, selling 9.29 million vehicles.

GM had been the top-selling automaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008.GM retook the sales crown in 2011.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose sharply in December on strong gains in volatile aircraft orders. But companies slowed their orders of goods that signal investment plans, indicating manufacturing could stay choppy in 2013.

The Commerce Department said Monday that overall orders for durable goods increased 4.6 percent in December compared with November. The gains were led by a 56.4 percent increase in military aircraft orders and a 10.1 percent increase in commercial aircraft orders.