Murdoch tabloid private eye to reveal hacking orders (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – A private detective jailed for illegally intercepting voicemail messages on behalf of a journalist at one of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers has been ordered to reveal who asked him to carry out the phone-hacking.

The demand by London's High Court will shed further light on how widespread the hacking practice was at the News of the World tabloid and add to the pressure on News International, the British newspaper arm of Murdoch's News Corp.

Glenn Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 along with the paper's ex-royal correspondent Clive Goodman for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides and five other figures including the model Elle Macpherson.

Lawyers for actor Steve Coogan, who believes he is a victim of phone-hacking and is suing News International, said on Friday the court had refused Mulcaire leave to appeal against a decision ordering him to reveal who instructed him to hack the phones.

John Kelly of law firm Schillings told Reuters that Mulcaire, who is suing News International himself after they stopped paying his legal fees, would have to answer their questions in a formal document to be filed at the court before September. This should be available for the public to see.

"He will now have to identify exactly who at the News of the World asked him to access the mobile phones of the named individuals and who he provided the information to at the News of the World," Kelly said.

"Mr Mulcaire is due to provide these answers by the end of the month and we await his answers with interest."

After Mulcaire and Goodman's conviction in 2007, News International repeatedly insisted that phone-hacking was limited to a single rogue reporter.

But in the face of civil action from Coogan and other figures, the company admitted earlier this year it had evidence that the practice was more widespread, prompting a new police inquiry.

Some executives, including Murdoch's son James, chairman of News International, are facing accusations that they knew about the illegal activities at a far earlier date than they had previously admitted.

Other senior figures, including former editorial staff on the now defunct paper, have been arrested by police probing allegations journalists on the News of the World illegally intercepted the voicemails of mobile phones of celebrities, politicians, as well as victims of crime and their families.

It has also caused embarrassment for Prime Minister David Cameron whose former media chief -- previously a News of the World editor -- is one of those to have been arrested as part of the probe.

PHONE-HACKING DETECTIVE ARRESTED

In a twist on Friday, London police said one of the detectives involved in the inquiry, named Operation Weeting, had been arrested on suspicion of leaking details about the case.

The Metropolitan Police's anti-corruption unit detained the 51-year-old detective constable at work on Thursday. He is accused of misconduct in a public office and has been released on police bail and suspended from duty.

"I made it very clear when I took on this investigation the need for operational and information security," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers who is leading the inquiry.

"It is hugely disappointing that this may not have been adhered to."

On Thursday, detectives arrested a senior Hollywood reporter from the News of the World, an arrest which was reported in detail by Britain's Guardian newspaper before any official announcement from the police.

Meanwhile, detectives from the Weeting team made their 14th arrest on Friday, a 35-year-old man who was held on suspicion of conspiring to unlawfully intercept voicemails. A source with knowledge of the inquiry named him as Dan Evans, a former feature writer on the tabloid.

He was detained after arriving by appointment at a London police station and later released on police bail until October.

(Additional reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Rosalind Russell)

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Private hiring jumps, sparking recovery hopes (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Companies hired four times more workers in June than in May, strengthening views the economy was starting to escape the doldrums of the first half of the year.

A drop in the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits last week also offered hope for the labor market, although they remain too high to signal robust growth.

Payrolls processor ADP said on Thursday private sector employment increased 157,000 after a modest 36,000 gain in May, a rise more than double economists' expectations.

With gasoline prices falling, automakers cranking up production and the decline in house values moderating, the dark clouds over the U.S. economy are starting to lift.

The jump in private employment was the latest indication the economy was pulling out of its first-half slump, a view bolstered by better-than-expected June sales at retailers, but analysts still see only a modest recovery ahead.

"It adds to the sense of relief that much of the slowdown that the economy endured during the first half of the year was due to temporary factors and there is not much threat of a double-dip (recession)," said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The employment gain, which reflected increases in manufacturing and services jobs, prompted several Wall Street banks to raise their forecasts for the government's closely watched nonfarm payrolls count for June due on Friday.

A Reuters survey conducted last week found that economists were looking for an increase of 90,000 nonfarm jobs after May's meager 54,000 gain. But economists now believe employment probably rose anywhere between 125,000 and 175,000.

"ADP has underpredicted the monthly jobs report by 45,000 on average the last four months ... but ADP estimates have won new credibility after their forecast hit May's weak jobs number correctly," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.

JOB GAINS ACROSS THE BOARD

Gains in private hiring last month were largely across the board, although construction and financial services' payrolls shrank. Small businesses, those with less than 50 employees, accounted for most of the hiring, adding 88,000 jobs. Large companies added only 10,000 workers in June, according to ADP.

"While it is just one month's number, it suggests that maybe what happened was a pause in the economic expansion and as we head into the summer months we're going to pick up some momentum," said Joel Prakken, chairman at Macroeconomic Advisers, which produces the report jointly with ADP.

Economic activity in the first six months of the year was curbed by rising commodity prices and supply chain disruptions following Japan's devastating earthquake in March.

With these factors starting to ease, economists expect both growth and employment to rise in the third quarter.

That is starting to show in initial claims for state unemployment benefits, which dropped 14,000 to 418,000 last week. A shortage of parts from Japan forced some auto makers to bring forward their annual retooling shutdowns from July, keeping initial claims elevated.

Still, claims remained above the 400,000 level that is usually associated with a stable labor market for a 13th straight week. Economists expect them to decline considerably in the weeks ahead as auto assembly plants reopen.

"Output and employment are likely to get a little bit of a lift in the third quarter from a rebound in automobile assemblies and a rebound in inventories that would probably carry through most of the second half of the year," said Wells Fargo Securities' Vitner.

Signs of a turnaround in the economy's fortunes were also offered by several U.S. retailers who reported better-than-expected sales gains in June as they lured shoppers with discounts without undercutting revenue.

Macy's Inc, Costco Wholesale Corp, Target Corp and Gap Inc all beat Wall Street estimates.

(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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