U.S. stock futures extend gains after jobless report
Published: August 6, 2009
NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures are extending their early gains after a better-than-expected report on weekly jobless claims.
The Labor Department says new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 550,000 last week. Economists had been looking for 580,000.
The report comes ahead of Friday’s government tally of monthly job losses. Layoffs have been a big concern for Wall Street, as rising unemployment means consumers have less to spend.
Stock futures had already been rising ahead of the report, supported by gains in overseas markets and an encouraging outlook from Cisco Systems.
Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 40 at 9,285. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are up 4 at 1,005, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 2 at 1,617.
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Reader Reactions
JB,
I too worry about the stock market. Those idiot Republicans keep bidding up stock prices. Why can’t they see things as clearly as you do?
And in other news.
Recession’s job losses may take years to recoup. Economy may be stuck with high unemployment, weak growth for years.
“We’re not going to go back to where we’ve come from,“ said Mohamed El-Erian!
We’re not past the large announced layoff process yet, even in this cycle.
The reason is that consumers — the mainspring of the economy — remain hunkered down. Growth is still coming from cost-cutting and federal spending, not from a pickup in real demand. And with 7 million workers sidelined by this recession, that headwind likely will be blowing for several years.
Just FYI
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