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.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
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