Market News

MADISON, Wis. (11/5/09)

• For the third consecutive month, the number of announced job cuts dropped in October to 55,679 from 66,404 in September, according to a report by Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc. The October job cut tally is the lowest level reported by Challenger since March 2008. October's job cuts were one-half the total announced a year earlier. The highest number of cuts last month was in the automotive, electronics and computer industries. The decline in cuts is consonant with other labor market measures, analysts said. However, there is scant evidence that hiring is picking up, they added (Moody's Economy.com Nov. 4). Also, U.S. private sector jobs declined by 203,000 in October, compared with a revised drop of 227,000 in September, according to a report by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers (The Wall Street Journal Nov. 4) ...

• For the week ending Oct. 30, the Market Composite Index--a measure of mortgage loan application volume--rose 8.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The index rose 7.9% on an unadjusted basis compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index rose 14.5% from the prior week, and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.8% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index declined 3% compared with the previous week's and was 3.4% lower than the same week one year ago. For Mortgage Refinance Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey, use the link ...

• Service industries in the U.S. grew at slower-than-anticipated pace in October, signaling that rising unemployment may curtail consumer spending, analysts said. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index of non-manufacturing businesses dropped to 50.6 after rising above the zero-growth 50 mark in September at 50.9. ISM said the survey is generally consistent with its forecast that growth in the nation's gross domestic product will tally about 3% in the fourth quarter. Increased employment may mean consumer spending will grow only with government assistance--an indication that the nascent recovery may lose steam as the government stimulus fades, analysts said (Moody's Economy.com and Bloomberg.com Nov. 4) ...