Soaring Jobless Claims Leave Stocks Flat

Jobless claims reach 7-year high
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 13, 2008 8:55 AM CST
Soaring Jobless Claims Leave Stocks Flat
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Jobless claims rose to a 7-year high last week, but that didn’t appear to move the needle for stocks, which barely budged at today's open. The Dow crept up 66 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq rose 0.9% and 0.4% respectively. A staggering 32,000 filed new jobless claims last week, to a seasonally adjusted 516,000, a much bleaker number than analysts anticipated.

Wal-Mart, meanwhile, reported better-than-expected earnings but cut its annual estimate slightly, while Intel cut a billion dollars from its sales forecast. There was more dire news overseas, as Germany officially fell into recession with its second straight quarter of GDP contraction, and Chinese industrial production growth slowed to 8.2% in October. The Nikkei fell 5.3%, while the UK’s FTSE fell 1.8%. (More jobless claims stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X