Jobless claims show labor market may slow recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New
claims for jobless aid fell less than expected last week, and the number of
people continuing to receive unemployment benefits rose -- further signs that
any economic recovery will be hindered by a weak job market and flat incomes.
Most economists think the
recession is over, but they say the jobless rate will keep rising until at
least next summer as the economy struggles to mount a sustained recovery.
The nation's major retailers
on Thursday reported lackluster results from August back-to-school sales.
Results in established stores fell 2.1 percent in August compared with the same
month last year, a compilation of 31 retailers' results by the International
Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs indicated. Some major discounters
managed to exceed expectations.
Retail sales fall in August,
but drops are easing
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shoppers
limited their back-to-school purchases and stayed focused on necessities in
August, resulting in the 12th straight month of declining sales for retailers.
But there were signs the holiday season could be less dismal than feared.
Despite the weakness many
reported, retailers overall did better in August than analysts expected. Some
lower-priced chains, such as TJMaxx and Old Navy, even saw sales rise compared
with a year earlier, though upscale stores' sales slipped.
There have been encouraging
reports from the housing and manufacturing sectors that the economy is
stabilizing, but any recovery will have to include an uptick in consumer spending
because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.
Stocks break 4-day slide
ahead of jobs report
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors
moved back into stocks after a four-day slide on hopes that a key government
report on unemployment will confirm that the economy is gaining strength.
The Dow Jones industrial
average tacked on 64 points Thursday to 9,344.61 after sliding 300 points since
Friday. Stocks held to a tight range for much of the day in light trading as
some investors squeezed in late-summer vacations. Those remaining braced for
the August jobs report, which is due before the opening bell Friday.
The biggest gains came in
the final half-hour, with the Dow doubling its advance, as some traders looked
to buy ahead of the jobs data, while reports from retailers offered more
insight into consumers' troubles.
Airbus-Boeing ruling could
end up hurting both
WASHINGTON (AP) -- However
the World Trade Organization rules Friday on a trade dispute between Boeing and
Airbus, its decision could help slowly loosen the grip the two plane makers
have held on the lucrative market for commercial aircraft.
On the surface, the WTO will
decide a 5-year-old U.S. complaint that European governments unfairly financed
Airbus' climb to the No. 1 position. The ruling also may signal how much other
nations should be allowed to subsidize their industries. China's aviation
industry, for example, wants to compete with Boeing and Airbus for a share of
the jetliner market, expected to be worth $3.2 trillion over the next 20 years.
The WTO decision is not
expected to have much immediate effect on Airbus and Boeing.
EU delays Oracle-Sun deal,
probing database market
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Oracle
Corp. figured its $7.4 billion buyout for Sun Microsystems Inc. could skate
through antitrust scrutiny, folding Sun into a technology powerhouse when Sun
badly needs the lifeline. Both companies will have to wait.
European Union regulators
applied the brakes Thursday, launching a formal antitrust probe that shatters
Oracle's goal of completing the acquisition this summer. The U.S. Department of
Justice has already approved the deal.
The investigation is focused
on whether Oracle will gain too much power in the market for database software,
which underpins most things people do in business or on the Web. It helps
companies manage and retrieve data they've stored, such as payroll or sales
information. Typing in a search term, for example, forces a Web site to scour a
database and spit out an answer.
No floor in sight for
natural gas; prices plunge
NEW YORK (AP) -- Natural gas
prices tumbled again Thursday, hitting new seven-year lows as the country pares
down on energy usage and more unused supply is put into storage.
On Monday, Spokane,
Wash.-based utility Avista Corp. said it wants to reduce natural gas prices for
its Oregon customers to the lowest levels in five years. And in the Midwest,
Alliant Energy Corp. and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. both predicted heating
bills would drop around 20 percent.
Natural gas for October
delivery gave up 20.7 cents to settle at $2.508 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dropped as low as $2.50 per 1,000 cubic feet
-- the lowest since March 2002 -- after the government reported that U.S.
natural gas supplies grew again last week and are now nearly 18 percent above
the five-year average.
European Central Bank keeps
rate steady
FRANKFURT (AP) -- The
European Central Bank has left its benchmark rate unchanged at 1 percent as
markets wait for word that it may raise its economic forecasts.
The ECB, which sets interest
rates for the 16 countries that use the euro, will explain its decision at a
press conference later Thursday. The bank is also expected to deliver new
forecasts on inflation.
The bank's key refinancing
rate has stood at 1 percent -- a record low -- since May as the bank moved to
get cash flowing among European banks and help them during the world financial
crisis.
Schumer: Change SEC funding
after Madoff failure
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A key
senator wants to change how the Securities and Exchange Commission is funded,
saying the agency must be buttressed to prevent future disasters like its
failure to detect the multibillion-dollar fraud run for decades by Bernard
Madoff.
Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to propose legislation
next week that would dedicate all the annual revenue collected by the SEC to
its budget instead of turning over a large portion of the fees paid by public
companies and other entities that register stock with the agency to the
Treasury Department for the government's coffers.
Diebold selling US voting
machine unit
NORTH CANTON, Ohio (AP) --
ATM maker Diebold Inc. has sold its much-criticized U.S. voting-machine
business to its bigger competitor, Election Systems & Software Inc. of
Omaha, Nebraska.
Diebold, based in North
Canton, announced the sale of its Allen, Texas-based subsidiary Premier
Election Solutions Inc. on Thursday and said it will get $5 million plus
payments representing 70 percent of collections of the unit's accounts
receivable as of Aug. 31.
Diebold said it would
disclose the additional payments at a later date.
Diebold expects to recognize
a pretax loss on the deal in the range of $45 million to $55 million.
Treasury backs down in clash
with bailout watchdog
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Treasury Department has decided not to challenge the independence of the
government watchdog agency that Congress created to oversee spending of the
$700 billion rescue package for the financial sector.
The confrontation between
Treasury and the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief
Program, SIGTARP, had prompted congressional complaints that the Obama
administration was seeking to restrain the work of inspector general Neil
Barofsky.
This week, Barofsky declared
in a letter to lawmakers that Treasury had, in effect, acknowledged that he is
not subject to Treasury's supervision.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 63.94, or 0.7
percent, to 9,344.61.
The S&P 500 index rose
8.49, or 0.9 percent, to 1,003.24, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.13,
or 0.8 percent, to 1,983.20.
Benchmark crude for October
delivery fell 9 cents to settle at $67.96 a barrel on the Nymex.
Natural gas for October
delivery gave up 20.7 cents to settle at $2.508 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
gasoline for October delivery lost 1.58 cents to settle at $1.7928 a gallon and
heating oil fell by 1.55 cents to settle at $1.735 a gallon.
In London, Brent crude
dropped 54 cents to settle at $67.12 on the ICE Futures exchange.