Money in a Minute: Headlines for April 4, 2011

BUSINESS: CEO pay soars while workers’ pay stalls

Did you get a 27-percent pay raise last year? Many CEOs did. “Median CEO pay jumped 27 percent in 2010 as the executives’ compensation started working its way back to pre-recession levels,” USA Today reports. “Workers in private industry, meanwhile, saw their compensation grow just 2.1 percent.”

PAY: Jobs report: Your paycheck isn’t going up

Unemployment may be dropping, but paychecks for those who are working have stagnated. “Average hourly earnings have gained only one cent, or 0.04 percent since January,” CNN Money reports. “The average workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours in March.”

AUTO: Auto sales up with economy, but buyers downsize

Americans bought more cars in March, but they also bought less car – in other words, sales are up for smaller vehicles. “General Motors, Ford, Honda and Nissan all saw double-digit increases in sales,” MSNBC reports. “Ford sold more new vehicles than General Motors last month, making March only the second time the company has outsold GM since 1998.”

JOBS: U.S. service industries probably grew at close to fastest pace since 2005

While the numbers are still being crunched, preliminary figures show that service industry jobs are increasing fast – “a sign the U.S. economic expansion is broadening beyond manufacturing,” Bloomberg reports.

TECH: LizaMoon attack infects millions of websites

A new computer virus was unleashed over the weekend, but thankfully, most consumer anti-virus software is up to the challenge. “It’s affecting a surprisingly large number of websites – nearly 4 million so far,” CNN Money reports. “Some of those sites feed into Apple’s iTunes platform.” But Apple says, “There’s zero risk of an iTunes user’s computer actually getting infected.”