The number of new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than five months, a sign the US economy may be pulling out of recession.
"The worst of the layoffs and the labor market weakness is behind us," said Tim McGee, chief strategist at UFJ Bank in New York. "There was an overreaction after Sept. 11, and businesses need to start going in the other direction."
Initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 in the week that ended Saturday to 384,000, the Labor Department said. Applications haven't been as low since the last week of July. Separate reports showed construction began on single-family homes in December at the fastest pace in eight months and Philadelphia-area manufacturing grew for the first time since November 2000.
Many factories have carried out job cuts announced in 2001 and expect production to rise. Delphi Automotive Systems Corp, which makes parts for General Motors Corp and other automakers, reported that it has already eliminated 10,100 of the 11,500 jobs it intended to slash.
"If you talk to car dealers around the country, they want product," Delphi's chief executive officer, J.T. Battenberg III, said in an interview.
Housing starts fell 3.4 percent last month to 1.57 million units begun at an annual rate, the Commerce Department reported.
The decline occurred as builders undertook construction of fewer apartments and other multifamily projects. Work on single-family houses increased 3.6 percent. A total of 1.603 million homes were started last year, compared with 1.569 million in 2000. Only in 1998 and 1999 did builders start more homes in the last 14 years.
An unemployment rate that climbed to a 6.5-year high of 5.8 percent in December and may peak at 6.2 percent this year has yet to erode consumer optimism.
The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment climbed to 88.8 in December, the highest since before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS