Briefing.com News

Analysts polled by Briefing.com expected, on average, 350,000, while analysts polled by Action Economics via FactSet expected, on average, 340,000. For the seven days ended May 11th, the number of Americans applying for first-time jobless benefits rose to 363,000, far exceeding analysts' expectations.

Initial jobless claims jumped higher than expected last week, breaking a series of weekly declines that had brought it to multi-year lows, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims jumped higher than expected last week, breaking a series of weekly declines that had brought it to multi-year lows, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Solar energy systems integrator Solar City this afternoon reported Q1 revenue that topped analysts' estimates, and a net loss slightly deeper than expected, and forecast this quarter's combined systems and leasing revenue below expectations.

The advance retail sales report released this morning shows that sales in April came in at 0.1% month over month, a strong improvement over the downwardly revised -0.5% in March.

Retail sales rose slightly in April, as strong car sales and spending on building supplies helped make up for weakness in other sectors.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4.76 to 14,969.20. The S&P 500 added 1.84 at 1,616.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 8.47 to 3,387.10. The slow start to trade followed the powerful rally Friday that vaulted the Dow and the S&P to new record-high closes after a surprisingly favourable US jobs ... (more)

On the surface, the employment report for April looked good. Payroll growth exceeded expectations, increasing by 165,000. That was 10,000 more than the 155,000 expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

A Washington, D.C., reporter for more than 30 years, Jim Limbach covers the federal agencies for ConsumerAffairs.

The first-quarter earnings season has been OK, but not great. Maybe the market is fine with average results and pleased there have not been major surprises to the downside.

The durable goods orders contracted a dismal 5.7% in March, according to the United States Census Bureau, representing the largest decline in seven months-a far cry from the 4.3% rise in February and well below the Briefing.com estimate calling for a four percent decline.

US stocks on Friday ended mixed after a mediocre report on US economic growth and the latest batch of uneven corporate earnings reports.

U.S. stock futures edged lower Friday ahead of the Bureau of Economic Analysis' first estimate of first-quarter GDP due for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.

A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the number of claims to total 351,000 in the week ended April 25, little changed from the prior week.

Amid a slew of gloomy economic news, here's a bright spot: Claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to slight improvement in the job market.