The Department of Labor’s report on last week’s unemployment numbers sucked the life out of investors today. The report (which you can find here) shows that there was an increase of 12,000 new unemployment claims filings, bringing the total filings for the week to 500,000. This is the highest number of new weekly claims since the week of November 14th 2009 when new claims hit 505,000.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia also released some negative news today. Their Business Outlook Survey showed a dramatic decrease in the index that measures manufacturing in the eastern part of Philadelphia. The index had measured 5.1 in July and was anticipated to reach 7.5 in August. Instead, it dropped to -7.7. To see the full report and charts, visit their website.
And finally, the Congressional Budget Office released its Annual Summer Update of the Budget and Economic Outlook. Their report mentions that they expect economic recovery to continue at a “moderate pace.”
As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 144.33 points to 10,271.21. The Nasdaq fell 36.75 points to 2,178.95 and he S&P 500 fell 18.53 points to 1,075.63.
Asian markets were all up today while European markets were all down.
