Today's number: $181 billion

        What China spent in the past three years to build 105,600 miles of roads, build or upgrade 6,200 miles of railways, and strengthen dikes on the flood-prone Yangtze River, Premier Zhu Rongji said.

Today's career advice:

        The companies on Fortune magazine's list of the best 100 firms to work for offer plenty of perks to woo the best and brightest.

        The magazine found that 26 offer on-site day care, 29 offer concierge services, 47 offer domestic-partner benefits to same-sex couples, and 31 offer fully paid sabbaticals.

        Don't think these companies are not desperate for good workers, either: 83 offer employees bounties up to $15,000 for recommending new hires.

Today's career move

        C. Michael Kiniyalocts has joined the law firm Graydon Head & Ritchey as information services manager and newest member of the technology team. Mr. Kiniyalocts will assist in the assessment of the technology needs of the firm, participate in the development of business application implementations, and coordinate planning and system support. He has more than nine years of experience with computer systems, working most recently as the director of information systems at Radac Corp. in Dayton, Ky.

Today's money tip

        The newspaper's stock pages can be valuable tools in stock picking. In addition to price ranges and dividends, valuation ratios also are listed on Saturday.

        Look at the P/E and the PP/E columns. Also called the multiple, the price-to-earnings ratio is the stock price divided by the company's recent per-share profit.

        The next column is the projected P/E, derived by dividing the stock price by what the company is expected to earn. If the PP/E is lower than the P/E, the stock might be a good buy. A lower PP/E means the company will be earning more money — a good sign, given that the market generally likes growing companies. But if that space is blank, the company doesn't make a profit.

Today's company: Hillshire Farm and The Kahn Co.

        Carving out a market: Hillshire Farm began in the 1920s as a meat market and meatpacking business owned by Austrian immigrant Fritz Bernegger and his partner, Billy Schmidt. Kahn's grew from a neighborhood meat market and slaughterhouse established in the early 1880s by immigrant Elias Kahn. Both companies were acquired by Consolidated Foods (now Sara Lee Corp.), and in 1988 Hillshire Farm merged with Kahn's to form one of the largest meat-producing companies in the United States.

        Ballpark business: Kahn's is the official hot dog of the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets. Kahn's also makes Fenway Franks, the official hot dog of the Boston Red Sox.

        Leading links: Hillshire Farms produces the best-selling smoked sausage in the United States. The brand is distributed nationwide, while Kahn's products are sold east of the Mississippi.

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Earnings: Kroger Co.
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Industry notes: Manufacturing
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