Afternoon Coffee: Apple Suppliers Consider Investments in US, Amazon Courts Trump’s Favor

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Foxconn, Sharp and TSMC have all recently expressed interest in taking advantage of expected business-friendly policies in the US by increasing manufacturing investments in the country. The talk seems to be not unrelated to President-elect Trump’s barbs at companies in other industries aimed at getting them to make stuff in America rather than abroad.

Amazon Touts Jobs Plan

E-commerce giant Amazon revealed Thursday a plan to create more than 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. The additional jobs added over the next 18 months would swell Amazon’s U.S. workforce to 280,000, compared with 30,000 in 2011.

A New IoT Play

Honeywell and Intel are joining forces to develop new Internet of Things solutions for the retail industry, according to a press release. The new collaboration will focus on developing solutions that improve operations for retail businesses, particularly the logistical challenges posed by the shift to online shopping.

Retail Sales Update

And finally, more data on holiday sales performance: Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in December, led by a big jump in auto sales. Wages are also trending up. Average hourly pay rose 2.9% in December from a year earlier, the most in seven years.