Job hopes rise on flurry of economic
reports WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fewer people are
filing claims for unemployment aid, new jobs are showing up in service
industries, and companies are squeezing all they can from lean staffs and may
need to hire soon. Hopes for the job market brightened
Thursday ahead of a closely watched report on the nation's employment picture
-- although experts cautioned that the economy probably isn't creating jobs as
quickly as usual after a recession. Economists predict the May jobs report,
due out Friday morning, will show the nation added 513,000 jobs in May. But
most of them, as many as 400,000 by some estimates, will be temporary
government jobs to help with the census. Retailers' reports show tepid May for
shoppers NEW YORK (AP) -- Shoppers are still
showing some scars from the recession. In a May filled with wild stock market
swings, consumers gave retailers only slim revenue gains over a terrible May
2009. The second straight month of
sluggishness after a surprisingly solid start to the year underscores both the fragility
and choppiness of the economic recovery that will most likely persist at least
through the fall. The International Council of Shopping
Centers index for revenue at stores open at least a year reflected such
tentative spending, rising 2.6 percent in May. The figure was in line with a
reduced growth forecast that ranged anywhere from 2 percent to 2.5 percent. Trade group says service sector grows
in May WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. service
sector expanded in May for the fifth consecutive month, suggesting the economy
will add more jobs and strengthen. The Institute for Supply Management, a
trade group of purchasing executives, said Thursday that its service index was
unchanged at 55.4 in May, the same level as April and March. A level above 50
indicates growth. ISM also says its jobs measure
increased, reversing 28 months of contraction. Employers "are now starting
to feel a bit more confidence as far as bringing back some jobs," said
Anthony Nieves, a Hilton Worldwide executive who serves as chairman of ISM's
non-manufacturing business survey committee. Factory orders post 1.2 percent April
increase WASHINGTON (AP) -- Orders to U.S.
factories posted a moderate increase in April as a big surge in demand for
commercial aircraft offset weakness in a number of other areas. The Commerce Department said Thursday
that orders for manufactured goods increased 1.2 percent in April, a slowdown
from a 1.7 percent rise in March. Excluding transportation, orders actually
fell 0.5 percent, the poorest showing in 13 months. However, that drop followed
a big 3.8 percent surge in March which had been the largest advance in six
years. So far in this recovery, the
manufacturing sector has been one of the star performers, helped by a strong
rebound in domestic demand and rising export sales. However, economists worry
that the debt crisis in Europe could slow sales in one of America's biggest
overseas markets. Stocks climb after reports point to
further NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks closed higher
for a second day Thursday after traders found room for optimism in mixed
economic reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose
about 6 points to 10,255.28 a day after leaping 226. It was the first
back-to-back gain for the Dow since late April. A drop in the euro at times dampened
buying interest. Traders see a slide in the euro against the dollar as a sign
of waning confidence in Europe's ability to contain its debt problems. The euro
slid to $1.2159, after nearing a four-year low of $1.2112 it hit on Tuesday. Fed boss pushes loans for sound small
businesses WASHINGTON (AP) -- Getting loans
flowing more normally to creditworthy small businesses will help the economic
recovery, Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke said Thursday. Small businesses -- more so than big
companies -- rely on bank loans to expand operations and hire. Small businesses
usually help drive job creation during recoveries but credit clogs have hurt
hiring. Lending to small businesses is
declining even though the economy is improving. Lending has dropped from almost
$700 billion in the second quarter of 2008, a period when the country was
embroiled in a financial crisis, to $660 billion in the first quarter of this
year, Bernanke said in prepared remarks in Detroit. Many lawmakers on Capitol
Hill have complained about small businesses wanting to take out loans but
having trouble getting them. BP cuts pipe, plans to lower cap over
Gulf spill METAIRIE, La. (AP) -- BP sliced off a
pipe with giant shears Thursday in the latest bid to curtail the worst oil
spill in U.S. history, but the cut was jagged and placing a cap over the gusher
will now be more challenging. BP turned to the shears after a
diamond-tipped saw became stuck in the pipe halfway through the job, yet
another frustrating delay in the six-week-old Gulf of Mexico spill. The cap will be lowered and sealed over
the leak, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the
disaster. It won't be known how much oil BP can siphon to a tanker on the
surface until the cap is fitted, but the irregular cut means it won't fit as
snugly as officials hoped. Vilsack: USDA investment should help
rural America HILLSBORO, Mo. (AP) -- Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday the Obama administration is making new
investments in rural America that should help reverse the economic decline seen
in many small towns. Vilsack laid out the administration's
plan at a summit on rural economic issues in Hillsboro, Mo., about 40 miles
south of St. Louis. New investments in broadband Internet, biofuels plants and
small-scale farming will help create jobs in rural areas, Vilsack said. While rural communities have lost jobs
and residents for decades, they have a chance to regain them by producing fuel
from crops and establishing Internet connections to other areas, he said.
Vilsack told about 400 people who attended the gathering at Jefferson College
that new attention -- and investment -- would flow from Washington. Fire risk leads to huge Maytag
dishwasher recall WASHINGTON (AP) -- Whirlpool Corp.'s
Maytag unit is recalling about 1.7 million dishwashers because of a fire
hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission,
which announced the recall Thursday, says the company, part of Whirlpool Corp.,
has received 12 reports of electrical failures in the dishwasher heating
element that led to fires and damage. One kitchen fire caused extensive damage,
the agency said. No injuries have been reported. The recall includes Maytag, Amana,
Jenn-Air, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley brand dishwashers
with plastic tubs. The recalled dishwashers were made with black, bisque,
white, silver and stainless steel front panels and sold at department and
appliance stores nationwide from February 2006 through April 2010. They cost
between $250 and $900. Publishers see signs the iPad can
restore ad money NEW YORK (AP) -- Good news for the news
business: Companies are paying newspapers and magazines up to five times as
much to place ads in their iPad applications as what similar advertising costs
on regular websites. This doesn't mean Apple's tablet
computer will live up to its hype as a potential lifeline for the media
industry. Online ads still generate a small fraction of news companies'
advertising revenue, and it's an open question whether print ads will return to
what they totaled before the recession. But early evidence suggests the iPad is
at least offering publishers a way to get more money out of advertisers. That
bolsters the hope that portable touch-screen computers could start turning the
economics of digital advertising in publishers' favor. By The Associated Press The Dow rose 5.74, or 0.1 percent, to
10,255.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 index
rose 4.45, or 0.4 percent, to 1,102.83, while the technology-focused Nasdaq
composite index rose 21.96, or 1 percent, to 2,303.03. Benchmark crude for July delivery rose
$1.75 to settle at $74.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas futures rose 26.6 cents to
close at $4.690 per 1,000 cubic feet on the Nymex. In other Nymex trading in July
contracts, heating oil rose 3.32 cents to settle at $2.0391 a gallon. Gasoline
added 5.51 cents to settle at $2.0812 per gallon. In London, Brent crude rose $1.66 to
settle at $75.41 on the ICE futures exchange.