Economic Numbers

S&P Upgrades U.S. Credit Outlook To 'Stable'

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:59:00 +0000

Citing improved tax receipts and some steps taken to address the country's long-term budget issues, Standard & Poor's upgraded the United States credit outlook to "stable." As Reuters reports, the credit rating agency said the chance of a downgrade to the country's credit rating is "less than one in three."

Reuters reports:

"The agency raised concerns about the ability of policymakers to tackle long-standing issues due to a deepening of a partisan divide in Washington in the last d

Job Growth Was Slow And Steady In May, But Jobless Rate Rose

Mark Memmott — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:14:00 +0000

There was modest job growth once again in May even as the nation's unemployment rate ticked up, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

According to BLS:

-- 175,000 jobs were added to public and private payrolls last month, slightly more than economists had expected.

-- The jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent from April's 7.5 percent. That rate can rise even as more jobs are added because the size of the labor force has also gone up.

We'll have more from the report, which was released at 8:30 a.m.

May's Unemployment Rate Expected To Hold Steady

Renee Montagne — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:06:00 +0000

The Labor Department on Friday reported a jobless rate of 7.6 percent as employers added 175,000 jobs and more people began to look for work last month. That's up from April's rate of 7.5 percent.

Ahead Of Key Report, 2 Modestly Positive Signs On Jobs

Mark Memmott — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:04:00 +0000

The number of first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 11,000 last week from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration reports. There were 346,000 such applications.

While on the positive side, the figure is still in line with the recent trend.

Job Growth Stayed Slow In May, Report Signals

Mark Memmott — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:26:00 +0000

There were 135,000 jobs added to private employers' payrolls in May, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report, which was released Wednesday morning.

That's slightly better than in April, when the payroll processing firm says its data show that there were 113,000 more jobs on private payrolls.