Jobless Claims Jump

Published 12/10/09 Craig Harrington - Print ArticleE-mail - editor@economyincisis.org 

After a huge loss on Tuesday, Markets recovered slightly during Wednesday’s trading session. The Dow Jones led the way with a 0.50 percent (51.08 points) gain, followed closely by the NASDAQ which jumped 0.49 percent (10.74 points). The S&P 500 lagged a bit behind, gaining 0.37 percent (4.01 points).

Analysts with Reuters expected to see a jump in early trading driven by a hope that week-to-week unemployment reports would show positive trends.

As it turned out, according to CNNMoney.com, unemployment claims climbed by 17,000 to 474,000 for the week ended December 5. Economists surveyed with Briefing.com had expected roughly 455,000 new claims, but the actual numbers outpaced projections.

Despite this bit of bad news, investors continued to trade strongly throughout the first hour on Wall Street.

Markets may be buoyed during the day by news that the foreclosure crisis, which was once sweeping across the nation, seems to be slowing down.

According to CNN, foreclosure filings are down 8 percent in the last month. Foreclosures are still 18 percent higher than they were last November, but the trajectory for the rest of 2009 and early 2010 seems relatively good.

In the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, governments have taken a standagainst the lavish expenses of their financial elite. Yesterday Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, placed a 50 percent tax on all bonuses paid to bankers in excess of 25,000 pounds ($40,000).

Now the United States seems to be leaning toward a similar provision of its own. According to Bloomberg News, as Wall Street recovers the fight over banker compensation is heating up yet again. Most Americans seem abjectly opposed to allowing any of the bailout-recipient banks to dole out bonuses to their executives. It is unlikely that Congress will stop the bonuses, but with precedent from overseas leading the way they may put heavy taxes on them.