Unemployment falls in 37 states in May WASHINGTON (AP) -- A majority of states
saw their unemployment rates drop in May. But the widespread declines were
mainly because people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted. The unemployment rate fell in 37 states
and the District of Columbia, the Labor Department said Friday. Six states had
increases and seven experienced no change. Forty-one states and the District of
Columbia saw a net increase in jobs. But that reflected national data showing a
huge gain because of government hiring of temporary census workers. Stocks climb for 4th day; Dow closes up
16 points NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks rose for a
fourth straight day Friday, led by shares of minerals companies after gold
prices settled at another record high. The Dow Jones industrial average rose
16 points and ended the week up 2.3 percent. Broader indexes also edged higher. The Dow posted its second consecutive
weekly gain. Before that, the Dow had been down for three weeks. Investors have
been trying to determine whether the stock market's "correction" is
over. A correction is generally considered a drop of 10-20 percent from a
recent peak. The Dow has risen back 6.4 percent from its lowest close of the
year on June 7, but it's still down 6.7 percent from the 2010 high it reached
on April 26. Obama tells G-20 nations to seal
economic recovery WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack
Obama is appealing to the world's major economies not to waver in their efforts
to support a sustained rebound from the near collapse of the global economic
system in the fall of 2008. Obama's appeal for unity in a letter to
other leaders of the Group of 20 major industrial countries underscored a
number of divisions that have developed between the major powers. Many European
nations, rattled by the debt crisis that had engulfed Greece, have started to
trim their own budget deficits while China has rejected calls by the United
States to allow its currency to rise in value as a way to boost sales of American
and other foreign products in China. "Pink pill" to boost female
libido eludes pharma GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) -- A "pink
pill" to boost women's sex drive remains elusive after a decade of
searching by some of the world's biggest drugmakers. A panel of health experts on Friday
rejected the latest offering submitted for federal approval: an antidepressant
drug that failed to increase sexual desire in two studies. The Food and Drug Administration's
panel of reproductive advisers voted unanimously that the benefits of the pill
from Boehringer Ingelheim did not outweigh side effects, including fatigue,
depression and fainting spells. Senate fails to spare doctors from
Medicare cuts WASHINGTON (AP) -- After a week of
partisan wrangling, the Senate on Friday passed legislation to spare doctors a
21 percent cut in Medicare payments looming for months. But the last-ditch
effort came too late. Moments after the Senate acted,
Medicare announced it would begin processing claims it has already received for
June at the lower rate. The reason: the House cannot act on the fix until next
week. That means doctors, nurse
practitioners, physical therapists and other providers who bill under
Medicare's physician fee schedule will have to resubmit their claims if they
want to be made whole, with added paperwork costs both for the providers and
for taxpayers. Europe's market blues ease PARIS (AP) -- The incipient panic about
Europe's debt crisis seems to have subsided into mere pessimism this week, with
the euro rebounding and investors encouraged by political leaders' new
willingness to take quick action to calm market fears. The big underlying issues haven't been
erased: Spain is still dogged by speculation it may eventually need a rescue
plan similar to the bailout already given to Greece. And many governments are
cutting back on welfare programs and other spending to chip away at their heavy
debt burdens -- and sometimes facing street protests as a result. Yet positive news from trouble spots
Spain and Greece, as well as EU leaders' united pledge for more banking
transparency, helped buoy the euro. Walgreen and CVS strike new deal,
avoiding split NEW YORK (AP) -- CVS Caremark Corp. and
Walgreen Co. have settled a dispute that threatened to change where millions of
Americans can fill prescriptions. The companies, which said Friday they
have agreed on a multiyear deal but did not disclose its terms, were battling
over the amounts Caremark reimburses Walgreen for filling prescriptions for
Caremark patients. Walgreen and CVS do billions of dollars
in business together each year, as Walgreen is the largest U.S. drugstore
operator and CVS's Caremark is the third largest prescription benefits manager.
It handled drug benefits for about 53 million people last year. At the same
time, the CVS drug store chain is Walgreen's top competitor. SpaghettiOs, frozen dinners pulled from
shelves WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two popular grocery
items are being pulled off the shelves -- SpaghettiOs that weren't adequately
heated during processing, and Marie Callender frozen dinners that pose a
salmonella risk. The Department of Agriculture announced
both recalls late Thursday. ConAgra Foods is recalling all Marie Callender's
brand cheesy chicken and rice frozen meals after they were possibly linked to a
salmonella outbreak in 14 states. And Campbell Soup Co. is recalling 15
million pounds of SpaghettiOs with meatballs after a cooker malfunctioned at
one of the company's plants in Texas. Moody's cuts BP ratings, again NEW YORK (AP) -- Moody's Investors
Service downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of BP PLC on Friday, the latest
in a string of hits to the beleaguered oil company. The downgrade comes three days after
scientists gave a new estimate of 2.52 million gallons spilling daily into the
Gulf of Mexico from a well that BP was drilling. It cut all of BP's long-term debt
securities by three notches to "A2" from "Aa2." It is the second time this month that
Moody's has downgraded the company and follows downgrades from other ratings
agencies as well. Caterpillar posts strong machine sales
in May NEW YORK (AP) -- Caterpillar Inc. said
Friday its machine sales worldwide jumped 11 percent in May compared with a
year ago as a rebound in North American and Asian business markets helped
offset declines in European sales. It was the first time since August 2006
the company has reported year-over-year growth in North America machine sales,
said Jefferies & Co. analyst Stephen Volkmann. Caterpillar is the world's largest
maker of construction and mining equipment. Because its iconic yellow-and-black
equipment is used in many different sectors all over the world, the company's
sales are considered an indicator of global economic health. By The Associated Press The Dow rose 16.47, or 0.2 percent, to
close at 10,450.64. The broader Standard & Poor's 500
index rose 1.47, or 0.1 percent, to 1,117.51. The Nasdaq composite index edged
up 2.64, or 0.1 percent, to 2,309.80. Benchmark crude was up for the week,
rising 39 cents to settle at $77.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Oil settled Monday at $75.12 a barrel. In other Nymex trading, heating oil
fell 1.85 cents to settle at $2.1289 a gallon. Gasoline lost 1.64 cents to
settle at $2.1476 a gallon, and natural gas dropped 16.5 cents to settle at
$4.997 per 1,000 cubic feet. Brent crude was down 46 cents to settle
at $78.22 on the ICE futures exchange.