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(Continued from page 39)
US olive oil industry pushing government to give more scrutiny to olive oil imports
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's a pressing matter for the tiny U.S. olive oil industry: American shoppers more often are going for European imports, which are cheaper and viewed as more authentic.
• And that's pitting U.S. producers against importers of the European oil, with some likening the battle to the California wine industry's struggles to gain acceptance decades ago.
• The tiny California olive industry says European olive oil filling U.S. shelves often is mislabeled and lower-grade oil, and they're pushing the federal government to give more scrutiny to imported varieties. One congressman-farmer even goes so far as suggesting labels on imported oil say "extra rancid" rather than "extra virgin."
• Imposing stricter standards might help American producers grab more market share from the Europeans, who produce in bulk and now have 97 percent of the U.S. market.
• Olive oil production is growing steadily. The domestic industry, with mostly high-end specialty brands, has gone from 1 percent of the national olive oil market five years ago to 3 percent today. Most of the production is in California, although there are smaller operations in Texas, Georgia and a few other states.
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Abenomics recovery a mirage for many in Japan as wages lag, steady jobs scarcer
• TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe has ticked off the easy items on his to-do list for economic revival.
• Flashy indicators show that factories are churning out more cars and electronics. Corporate profits are up. Stock prices have surged 30 percent in the past year.
• Despite his brash declaration that "Japan is back" in a speech last September to the New York Stock Exchange, Abe faces a thornier challenge in ensuring that his "Abenomics" recovery spreads beyond boardrooms to the Japanese people.
• Over the past two decades Japan's system of salaried jobs with full benefits has crumbled as companies struggled to stay afloat in cut-throat global markets, shifting much of their manufacturing overseas. Steady jobs in manufacturing and finance that moved abroad or became obsolete were replaced by low-paying service jobs (Continued on page 41)
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