| The KUIK Market Update for Thursday, April 3: | |||||||
| Markets are down slightly. | |||||||
| Index | Direction | Change | Units | Last | Time | Change | |
| Dow | Down | (18) | points | 16,555 | 7:45 AM | ||
| S&P500 | Down | -0.2% | percent | 1,888 | (2.77) | points | |
| Nasdaq Composite | Down | -0.5% | percent | 4,257 | (19.50) | points | |
| 30 Year Treasury | Down | (3) | Basis Points | 3.62 | Annual Yield | ||
| New claims for unemployment benefits rose by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 in the week ended March 29, according to the Labor Department. Economists expected 320,000 from last week’s revised 310,000. | |||||||
| Announced layoffs dropped last month, and total planned cuts over the three months through March hit the lowest level for a first quarter in 19 years, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. There were 34,000 announced layoffs in March, down from 42,000 in February and 49,000 in March 2013. For the first quarter, employers announced about 121,000 cuts – the lowest first-quarter tally since 1995 – down from 145,000 during the first quarter of 2013. Health care led planned layoffs in March, due to lower Medicare and Medicaid funding, as well as cuts for temporary call-center workers who helped users sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. For the first quarter, cuts were led by retail and financial-sector employers. | |||||||
| Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK. | |||||||
| http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobless-claims-rise-to-one-month-high-2014-04-03 | |||||||
| http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planned-layoffs-fall-in-march-challenger-2014-04-03 | |||||||
| For today’s Market Update Report click to listen-> | |||||||