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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Friday, sending the benchmark S&P 500 index (^SPX - News) to a record as a solid employment report rekindled optimism about the outlook for growth and profits. The prospect of continued strength in the economy boosted a broad range of equity sectors, including technology, basic materials, industrials, financials and consumer-oriented plays, such as retailers. Pharmaceutical shares also showed strength, with shares of Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK - News) among the top advancers in both the Dow and the S&P 500. "The unemployment report was a good report," said Stephen Carl, principal and head...

Jobs report shows September gains in line with forecasts, while earlier job loss wiped away; unemployment rate up to 4.7%. October 5 2007: 8:40 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Job growth was back on track in September, according to a government report that showed both a solid gain in Americans with jobs in the month, and revised away the job loss reported a month earlier. U.S. payrolls showed a net gain of 110,000 workers in the month, according to the Labor Department report. That's roughly in line with the forecast of a 100,000 gain by economists surveyed by Briefing.com....

Consumer Spending Posts Better-Than-Expected Gain While Inflation Eases WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers shrugged off a rash of bad news to spend more than expected in August while a key measure of inflation eased to the slowest pace in 3 1/2 years. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending rose by 0.6 percent in August, the best showing in four months and better than the 0.4 percent increase that had been expected. Incomes rose by 0.3 percent last month, slightly lower than had been expected. A closely watched gauge of inflation was up just 1.8 percent in August, compared to...

The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven weeks, an unexpected sign of improvement for the jobs market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment benefits totaled 311,000 last week, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week. It marked the lowest level for jobless claims since July 28. The decline came as a surprise for economists who had been forecasting a rise in claims of around 6,000. The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the volatility, also showed an improvement, falling to 320,750 from...

Can sentiment get any worse? As the dollar flirts with all-time lows on a trade-weighted basis, the smell of approaching capitulation is in the air. The bears have plenty of fodder. A need to rebalance the huge current account deficit has provided a solid long-term case for dollar weakness. The prop of higher-yielding dollars has been eroded by rising interest rates abroad and now pummelled by the Federal Reserve’s half-point cut. Meanwhile, the US slowdown is piling on the pain. Tuesday’s horrible housing data again raise the spectre of real estate acting as a significant drag on the US economy...

Applications for Unemployment Benefits Show Unexpected Drop WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven weeks, an unexpected sign of improvement for the jobs market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment benefits totaled 311,000 last week, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week. It marked the lowest level for jobless claims since July 28. The decline came as a surprise for economists who had been forecasting a rise in claims of around 6,000. The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of...

I have never believed that making things is inherently better -- inherently more likely to produce widespread prosperity, inherently more noble, inherently more meaningful -- than is the supplying of services.  And until I notice a widespread pattern of parents hoping that their children grow up to become factory workers rather than to become doctors, lawyers, and bank presidents, I'll continue to believe that, whether they know it or not, most Americans value jobs in the service sector pretty darn highly. Nevertheless, the state of manufacturing in the U.S. is quite strong.  To learn more, take this quiz: 1)    ...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks opened higher Thursday after fewer-than-expected workers sought unemployment benefits last week and on a possible agreement between automakers and workers over health care costs. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points. The Labor Department reported claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 last week to 319,000 -- the sixth increase in seven weeks -- but the number was less than the 325,000 claims analysts expected. Low unemployment, at 4.6 percent, has been one of the economy's strengths. Shares of General Motors Corp. jumped sharply after The Wall Street Journal reported that UAW...

Worker Productivity Rebounds, Growing at the Fastest Pace in Nearly Two Years WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worker productivity rebounded, growing at the fastest pace in nearly two years, while wage pressures eased sharply in the spring -- developments that should reduce inflation worries. The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April-June quarter, even better than the 1.8 percent increase that was originally reported. Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, slowed to an annual growth rate of 1.4 percent, slower than...

A strong economy with a weak housing sector is the picture painted by economic data released today. According to the Commerce Department, U.S. construction spending fell in July as outlays for housing plunged. Construction declined by 0.4 percent. The decline followed a 0.1 percent gain in June. Meanwhile, economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August for the seventh consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 70th consecutive month...

Democrats have only two arguments left against extending the Bush tax cuts, but recent data affirm that neither is valid. Sadly, though, Democrats will never abandon their claims because they fit so well into their class warfare template. Even Democrats can't reasonably deny we've experienced sustained economic growth following the Bush tax cuts. Instead, they've resurrected the canard they used to discredit the phenomenal growth of the supply-side Reagan years: Our economic growth has come at the expense of federal solvency. The growth, they say, is illusory, because it has led to record federal deficits, which means that greedy capitalist...

The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing. The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at an annual rate of 4 percent in the April-June quarter, significantly higher than the 3.4 percent rate the government had initially estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. But the growth spurt could be short-lived. There are concerns that the recent turmoil in financial markets, a result of a spreading credit crisis, could seriously dampen economic activity...

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street ended its calmest week in a month with a big advance yesterday, rising on solid economic readings that countered the bleak sentiment that has blanketed the financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 140 points in a lightly traded session. Stocks started out flat but jumped following a stronger-than-expected reading on new-home sales for July. That report came after a reading showing orders to factories for big-ticket goods rose sharply last month. The stock market's gains yesterday after several stable or positive sessions suggested that Federal Reserve policy-makers and stock market...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of new home increased 2.8% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000 as the inventory of homes for sale dropped for a fourth straight month, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. Sales were stronger than the 820,000 annualized pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar. In addition, sales in June were revised slightly higher. Sales are down 10.2% compared with last July. Read the full report. Stocks turned higher after the report was released. See Market Snapshot. Inventories of unsold homes fell about 1% to 533,000, the fourth consecutive decline. At...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal deficit so far this budget year is running sharply lower, driven by record revenues pouring into government coffers. The Treasury Department reported on Friday that the government produced a deficit of $157.3 billion for the budget year that began last Oct. 1. That's a substantial improvement from the red ink figure of $239.6 billion produced for the corresponding 10-month period last year. The lower year-to-date deficit was the result of a record of $2.12 trillion in revenues. Spending, however, was higher — $2.27 trillion, which also marked an all-time high. The White House predicts that...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials surged 286 points Monday, posting its biggest point gain of the year, helped by financial sector strength just ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 262.24 to 13,444.15, Charts) soared 286 points, or 2.16 percent, based on early tallies, rebounding from a 281 point late session selloff Friday. The broader S&P 500 (up 31.47 to 1,464.53, Charts) gained 2.4 percent while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index (up 31.80 to 2,543.05, Charts) climbed 1.4 percent. Treasury prices retreated, raising the benchmark yield on the 10-year note rising to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- American consumers -- shrugging off a struggling housing market as jobs remained plentiful -- became more confident in July and sent a gauge of sentiment to a six-year-high, a private research group said Tuesday. The New York-based Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index, rebounded to 112.6, its highest level since August 2001 when it recorded a 114.0 reading. That compared to a revised 105.3 in June. The July 24 cutoff for the preliminary survey of 5,000 U.S. households was before last week's stock market tumble, however. "An improvement in business conditions and the job...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy snapped out of a lethargic spell and grew at a 3.4 percent pace in the second quarter, the strongest showing in more than a year. A revival in business spending was a main force behind the energized performance. snip Inflation -- outside a burst in energy and food prices -- moderated. The second quarter's performance was better than the 3.2 percent growth rate economists were expecting. It was the strongest showing since the first quarter of 2006, when the economy expanded at a brisk 4.8 percent annual rate. Gross domestic product measures the value of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy snapped out of a lethargic spell and grew at a 3.4 percent pace in the second quarter, the strongest showing in more than a year. A revival in business spending was a main force behind the energized performance. The new reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, marked a big improvement from the first three months of this year, when economic growth skidded to a near halt at just a 0.6 percent pace, the slowest in more than four years. Stronger spending by businesses and government powered the rebound in...

Wall Street moved soundly higher Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials to their first close above 14,000 as investors kept jitters about the economy at bay and focused on a string of upbeat earnings reports. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also had a record close. Profit news from companies like International Business Machines Corp., network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc., and business software company SAP AG help lift stocks and boosted investors' appetite for technology issues. Resurgent concerns about the health of subprime loans, which are made to borrowers with poor credit history, hurt financial stocks, while a report...