Markets slide on jobless news
NEW YORK, June 5 (UPI) -- U.S. markets fell early Friday after the Labor Department said the unemployment rate jumped 0.5 percentage points to 9.4 percent.
Economists expected the U.S. jobless rate to climb to 9.2 percent, but the department said the country shed 345,000 non-farm jobs in the month, adding to the 7 million jobs lost since December 2007.
In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 49.51 points, or .0.57 percent, to 8,700.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 0.6 percent, 5.68 points, to 936.78. The Nasdaq composite index lost 14.97 points, 0.81 percent, to 1,835.05.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 18/32 to yield 3.787 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3981, compared to Thursday's $1.4183. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 97.60 yen, compared to Thursday's 96.77 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 99.05 points to 9,768.01, up 1.02 percent.
Penske close to Saturn deal with GM
DETROIT, June 5 (UPI) -- Auto dealership owner Rodger Penske is closing in on a deal to buy the Saturn brand from U.S. automaker General Motors Corp., sources close to the deal said.
Penske, a former race car driver, is an iconic figure in Detroit who organized the city's Super Bowl event and a downtown revitalization program. The Penske Automotive Group Inc. is the nation's second largest auto retailer, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
GM is in bankruptcy court and looking to sell or cancel out at least four brands, including Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac. Earlier this week, a Chinese manufacturer emerged as a buyer for Hummer, which GM will continue to produce under contract.
Auto industry analyst Aaron Bragman at IHS Global Insight said Saturn's future was far from certain. However, "if anyone is going to make a go of it, Penske is one of the better people to try," he said.
Sources close to the deal said Penske was looking for a manufacturing partner to continue production, while he took over the Saturn dealership network, the newspaper said.
GM said it had 16 separate buyers looking into the Saturn brand. Penske said last month he was interested in Saturn, which sold 188,000 vehicles in 2008 through a network of 380 U.S. dealerships.
Unemployment rate jumps to 9.4 percent
WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, exceeding economists' expectations by 0.2 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.
The nation lost 345,000 non-farm jobs in May, about half the monthly average of the past six months, but the number of unemployed reached 14.5 million in the month. Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed has nearly doubled, rising by 7 million, the department said.
Wages remained unchanged in May, while the average weekly hours worked declined by 0.1 hours to 33.1 hours per week.
The employment picture now includes 3.9 million people unemployed for at least 27 weeks, triple the number of long-term unemployed at the start of the recession.
Among adult men, the unemployment rate is 9.8 percent. Among adult women, the rate is 7.5 percent.
The unemployment rate for whites is 8.6 percent. For blacks the rate is 14.9 percent. Among Hispanics, 12.7 percent are unemployed, the department said.
Banks retain some political clout
WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- Bank lobbyists have retained their clout and their financial war chests in spite of the financial crisis, the president of a bank trade group said.
Cam Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said political action committees the ICBA runs now have 40 percent more financing than they did a year ago, The New York Times reported Friday.
"The banks get it. They understand you need a strong political action committee to get access to the fund-raisers. That's where the lawmakers are," Fine said.
The industry's political clout was demonstrated recently with a failed attempt to allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans for primary residences, the Times said.
The loan-modification provision, included in the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, survived a House vote but was stonewalled in the Senate after industry lobbyists, including the ICBA and the American Bankers Association, refused to negotiate on the issue.
"This is one of the most extreme examples I have seen of a special interest wielding its power for the special interest of a few against the general benefit of millions of homeowners and thousands of communities now being devastated by foreclosure," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said as the measure headed for defeat.
