PODCAST: First time jobless claims fell last week, Senate cancels July 4 break
Share Now on:
Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
The number of people filing for first time jobless claims fell slightly last week. It’s evidence that the economy isn’t generating enough jobs.
Word this morning from the Department of Agriculture that record high corn prices have led farmers to plant the second largest corn crop since World War II in the spring.
Business activity in the Midwest grew more than expected this month, helped by a jump new orders, a report showed on Thursday.
And here’s a number for you: 68 percent. That, according to a new survey, is how many Americans aged 16-34 won’t make a decision — including about which restaurant to go to — without asking friends or family first.
The Senate will be working next week, cancelling a week long July 4 break at a time the government is struggling to avoid a first-ever default.
Yesterday’s big budget cutting vote in Athens is still making traders more optimistic about the future. But that’s also sending the price of oil higher. It’s at almost $95 a barrel this morning.
The maker of Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka says its first-quarter profit jumped 52 percent to $75 million on improved wine and spirits sales in North America.
Social network Myspace, meet Social Network movie star Justin Timberlake. Timberlake may have starred in the movie about Facebook, but he’s now part of a company that bought Myspace from News Corp yesterday for $35 million.
To the International Airport in Vancouver which turns 80 next month. And to celebrate the airport is holding a contest to pick a person who will spend 80 days in the airport and document the experience on Facebook and Twitter. They’ll be able to find out the things we’ve all wondered about like what happens to misplaced luggage. And there’s a big perk involved. Unlike a stranded passenger, the contest winner won’t have to sleep on an airport bench. They’ll be put up in an airport hotel.
To East Hampton, N.Y., where someone claims to have found an ATM receipt showing an account balance of $99,864,731.94. Who does it belong to? It’s unclear. But whoever it is took out just $400 on this occasion, according to a photo of the receipt. And the person apparently isn’t concerned with ATM fees — he or she shelled out $2.75 to use the out-of-network ATM. You can go to our website to see a photo of the receipt and decide if you think it’s for real.
The New York Times today did an in-depth expose on home paint, and how paint companies are trying to sell more paint in a slumping housing market. So they’re giving colors an added, descriptive splash. For example, Valspar now sells one shade of orange it calls “Weekend in the Country.” Benjamin-Moore sells “Rendezvous Bay.” It’s basically turquoise. Even Ace Hardware’s gotten in on the act. With a beige color known as “Hey There!” Or as I like to call it — paint!
You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
