Stocks pressured by jobs report
NEW YORK, July 2 (UPI) -- Prices on the New York Stock Exchange were lower in late-morning trading Friday, pressured by a disappointing report on employment.
Stocks also fell on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.29 or 0.33 percent to 10,299.87. The Nasdaq composite Index was down 8.94 or 0.44 percent to 2,006.61 and the S&P 500-stock index was down 1.64 or 0.15 percent to 1,127.30.
U.S. Treasury bonds and notes surged. The popular 10-year note climbed 1 3/32, or about $10.50 for each $1,000 invested. The yield, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, sank to 4.45 percent. The bond market will close at 2 p.m. EDT ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
The U.S. dollar was mixed on global currency markets, rising to 108.67 Japanese yen from 108.28 Thursday while the euro improved against the greenback to $1.23 from $1.2167.
Analysts said stocks fell as investors digested a weaker-than-expected report on the nation's employment picture in June.
The Labor Department said non-farm payrolls grew by 112,000 in June and the overall unemployment rate remain unchanged at 5.6 percent.
Wall Street economists were expecting non-farm payrolls to rise by 250,000 jobs while the unemployment rate was expected to remain at 5.6 percent.
In other market action, In Asia, stocks ended lower in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Non-farm payrolls rise by 112,000
WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday a lackluster hiring pace last month for the first time in four months, leaving unemployment at 5.6 percent.
The government said the U.S. economy created just 112,000 non-farm jobs in June -- below the 150,000 economists say is necessary to keep the job market stable.
The nation's unemployment rate remained at 5.6 percent.
Wall Street economists had expected non-farm payrolls to grow by 250,000 with a 5.6 percent jobless rate.
The report showed 8.2 million people remained unemployed -- the same as in May. The number of people who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more remained steady at 1.8 million.
The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force. Non-farm payroll employment counts the number of paid employees working part-time or full-time in both the public and private sectors.
The latest report showed employers also added 35,000 fewer jobs than previously thought in April and May. The government said employers added 324,000 jobs in April and 235,000 in May. Previous estimates had shown a 346,000 increase in April and a 248,000 increase in May.
Outlook for U.S. economy impresses experts
NEW YORK, July 2 (UPI) -- A survey of economists revealed Friday widespread agreement the U.S. economy will grow steadily for the rest of the year.
The Wall Street Journal's midyear poll of 55 economic forecasters found expectations of industrial growth, lower unemployment and declining inflation.
The nation's gross domestic product, its broadest measure of economic activity, is expected to grow at a yearly rate of 4.4 percent in both the second and third quarters, and 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter.
"We're entering a phase where the economy is picking up momentum," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Bank One. Companies have "record profits, record cash flow ... top-line revenue growth and order backlogs -- you can't ask for more."
Those projections represent a jump from actual growth of 3.9 percent in the first quarter. The economists forecast slower growth of 3.7 percent during the first half of 2005.
Hollinger Int'l. sued over Telegraph sale
WILMINGTON, Del., July 2 (UPI) -- The owner of Hollinger International has filed suit in Wilmington, Del., demanding a shareholder vote on the sale of Britain's Daily Telegraph.
Conrad Black, Hollinger International's former chairman, runs Hollinger Inc. of Toronto, which holds a controlling interest in Hollinger International, the Financial Times reported Friday.
Since his ouster from Hollinger International, Black has opposed his former employer's efforts to liquidate its considerable newspaper holdings.
Black's suit against the $1.2 billion sale of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph to Fred Barclay was expected.
"We do not believe that Hollinger International should be allowed to disenfranchise shareholders and deny them their fundamental rights," Hollinger Inc. said Thursday.
It also said it has not made a final decision on whether it would vote to block the transaction "since we have not been provided with all of the necessary information, including details regarding the transaction, possible alternatives and future plans for the company, to make such a decision".
People familiar with the situation believe Black could regain some negotiating leverage with the company he once controlled if the court grants him a shareholder vote on the deal.
