Microsoft Lifts Economy ; Dividend Payment Increases Spending, Savings

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A new high dividend payment by Microsoft Corp. lifted personal incomes by a record 3.7 percent to more than $10 trillion last month and gave a boost to year-end spending and savings, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

The unprecedented Microsoft payout illustrates how times have changed. The one-time leader of the United States' information- technology revolution has been transformed by changes in the economy, the stock market and tax laws into its biggest dividend- paying corporation, and now acts much like an "old economy" firm.

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Microsoft Lifts Economy ; Dividend Payment Increases Spending, Savings

For millions of Microsoft shareholders, the $32.6 billion dividend windfall paid out on Dec. 2 rivaled the $38 billion from President Bush's 2001 tax rebates and is emblematic of how stock gains are contributing a growin...

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