Zynga shares slip after updated Facebook deal
NEW YORK — Zynga shares fell in after-hours trading Thursday after the online game company and Facebook disclosed in government filings that they changed the terms of their long-standing relationship.
Zynga said Thursday it will no longer be required to display Facebook ads or use Facebook payments on its own websites.
The deal also says any social game Zynga launches will be available through Facebook at the same time or shortly after it launches. In a similar filing Facebook said it will be able to develop its own games, previously prohibited.
Zynga shares fell 31 cents, or 11.8 percent, to $2.31 in afterhours trading. WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate from July through September, much faster than first thought. The strength is expected to fade in the final months of the year because of the impact of Superstorm Sandy and uncertainty about looming tax increases and government spending cuts.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that growth in the third quarter was significantly better than the 2 percent rate estimated a month ago. And it was more than twice the 1.3 percent rate reported for the April-June quarter.
Also Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 393,000 last week. It was the second straight drop after Sandy had driven applications higher earlier this month. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, rose to 405,250 last week. That figure has been elevated by the storm.
On Wall Street, optimism that a budget deal will be reached in Washington sent stocks modestly higher Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36 points to close at 13,021.
The main reason for Thurs- day’s upward revision to the gross domestic product was businesses restocked at a faster pace than previously estimated. That offset weaker consumer spending growth.
GDP measures the nation’s total output of goods and services — from restaurant meals and haircuts to airplanes, appliances and highways.
Most economists say economic growth is slowing to below 2 percent in the current October-December quarter. That’s generally considered too weak to rapidly lower the unemployment rate.
Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said companies are likely restocking more slowly now. Businesses typically cut