AP - JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP: The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose 15,000 to 444,000 last week. Economists expected that number to drop.
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AP - Americans’ productivity soared in the spring while labor costs declined, two welcome outcomes that should relieve concerns that inflation is getting out of hand.
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AP - The European Central Bank and Bank of England will likely leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday as they face mounting inflation and slowing growth.
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AP - A year after orchestrating a takeover of H&R Block Inc.’s leadership, Richard Breeden gave shareholders an update Thursday on efforts to rejuvenate the tax preparation giant, saying some success has been made but the work is ongoing.
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Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
is considering a plan to put some $32 billion of its commercial
real estate and mortgage assets in a new company and spin it
off, Bloomberg reported on its website on Thursday.
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AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a third straight week, dropping to the lowest level since mid-July.
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Reuters - GMAC LLC, the auto finance and
mortgage company, plans to eliminate about 5,000 jobs at its
Residential Capital LLC unit and close all 200 GMAC Mortgage
retail offices to combat weak housing and credit markets.
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AP - Lender GMAC Financial Services said Wednesday it will close all of its 200 retail offices and lay off about 5,000 employees as part of plan to reduce its mortgage lending and servicing because of the housing market downturn.
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AP - Jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, the government said Thursday, while companies responded to the slowing economy by producing more with fewer workers.
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Reuters - Merrill Lynch & Co , battered
by more than $40 billion of write-downs tied largely to
mortgages, said on Tuesday it hired Michael Nierenberg from
JPMorgan Chase & Co to head its mortgage and
securitization businesses.
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