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The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits last week remained below recent levels in June, before car related job layoffs kicked in.
New applications rose by 25,000 to 584,000 in the week ended July 25th, the Labor Department said today.
Continuing claims for more than a week fell 54,000 in the week ended July 18th to 6,197,000, the lowest since April 11th.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153 points 0r 1.68% at 9,223, topping the 9200 level for the first time since November.
It was led by a 7.7% jump in GE after Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded the conglomerate's shares to a "buy" rating from "neutral," saying there appears to be less chance that GE will be forced to spin-off its GE Capital business.
The Nasdaq rose 1.61% and the S&P 500 is up 1.86%.
The International Monetary Fund today urged Eurozone policy makers to sustain fiscal stimulus next year and keep interest rates low, saying that the form and timing of the region's emergence from recession was"highly uncertain."
The region remains in recession with signs of improvement not yet signalling a recovering, the IMF said in its latest assessment of the 16-country zone. GDP is forecast to contract by 4.8% this year and by 0.3% in 2010.
Irish Economy: The Central Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin today, that for next year as a whole, a decline in activity of about 2.7 per cent in GDP and 3.5 per cent in GNP terms is projected. This outlook is contingent on a gradual recovery in world demand next year. By contrast, the contraction in domestic demand is likely to continue. It says with forward-looking indicators pointing to a further contraction in housing output and declining disposable incomes likely to depress consumer demand, there is little prospect of any recovery in domestic demand before 2011. Property-related banking loans at 61% of total bank loans at the end of March 2009.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for September delivery is trading at $66.12 up $2.776 from Wednesday's close. In London, Brent crude for September delivery is trading at $66.60 a barrel.
Currencies
The euro is trading at $1.4031 and at £0.8572.
For live currency updates, check the right-hand column of the Finfacts home page.
The dollar traded at a record low $1.6038 per euro on July 15, 2008.
