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U.S. markets lower Friday

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. markets pulled back from early losses, but remained in negative territory Friday after a week of shaky economic data.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said interest rates for fixed-rate loans were at record lows this week, but the Mortgage Bankers Association countered with data showing mortgage delinquency rates at record highs. October's housing starts dropped sharply, down 10.6 percent, but retailers beat expectations with sales up 1.4 percent in October, the Commerce Department said.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.9 percent Thursday. By close Friday, the DJIA moved lower, down 0.14 percent, 14.28 points, to 10,318.16.

The Standard & Poor's 500 slid 0.32 percent, 3.52 points, to 1,091.38. The Nasdaq composite index lost 0.5 percent, 10.78 points, to 2,146.04.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,271 stocks advanced and 1,716 declined on a volume of 3.7 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell 7/32 to yield 3.368 percent.

The euro rose to $1.4863 from Thursday's $1.4919. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 88.86 yen from Thursday's 89.08 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.54 percent, 51.79, to 9,497.68.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 0.31 percent, 16.29, to 5,251.41.

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Roubini paints grim picture on jobs

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Former Clinton administration economist Nouriel Roubini warned U.S. job losses could be expected to continue well past the end of the recession.

"Remember: The last recession ended in November 2001, but job losses continued for more than a year-and-a-half until June of 2003; ditto for the 1990-91 recession," Roubini wrote in a recent newspaper article, Moneynews.com reported Friday.

U.S. job losses -- about 200,000 per month recently -- have improved since January when job losses topped 700,000. Nevertheless, the current average loss is higher than the average monthly job loss in the last recession, which was 150,000 per month, he said.

On top of 7.5 million jobs erased in the recession, those who are still working have had enough hours cut to equal 3 million more full-time jobs lost, he said.

"This is very bad news but we must face facts. Many of the lost jobs are gone forever, including construction jobs, finance jobs and manufacturing jobs," Roubini wrote.

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Employees head for door during downturn

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. workers in a national survey indicated they would leave their jobs within a year, a sign of unhappy workers, an employment expert said.

Right Management, the research arm of employment services giant Manpower, said 60 percent of the 900 respondents in a recent survey indicated they intended to leave their jobs within a year, the company said Friday.

An additional 21 percent indicated they were fishing for opportunities – in modern parlance, they said they were networking – and would "maybe" leave their jobs in the next year, Right Management said.

Six percent indicated they were updating their resumes but "not likely" to switch jobs.

"Employees are clearly expressing their pent up frustration with how they have been treated through the downturn," said President and Chief Operating Officer of Right Management Douglas Mathews.

"While employers may have taken the necessary steps to streamline operations to remain viable, it appears many employees may have felt neglected in the process. The result is a disengaged and disgruntled workforce," he said.

The numbers indicate turnover at work may increase next year, a point that may surprise employers, Mathews said.

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Study: Michigan turnaround in late 2011

LANSING, Mich., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- University of Michigan economists said Michigan, with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, should see a slight resurgence in late 2011.

The unemployment rate in the Great Lakes state is at 15.1 percent.

The study said in 2009 Michigan will lose 283,000 jobs, the Detroit Free Press reported. But job losses are forecast to taper off through the next two years, said George Fulton, one of the economists involved in study released Friday.

In the following year, Michigan is projected to lose 85,000 jobs. In 2011, 36,000 jobs would be lost before a turnaround began, the study said.

"In Michigan, prolonged difficulties have become a way of life. But the Michigan economy is in a more encouraging position now than it was at the beginning of 2009," Fulton said.

The unemployment rate in the state hit hard by an eight-year decline in the automobile industry would peak at 15.8 percent in 2010, the economists said.

The projections include a total loss of 937,000 jobs from 2000 to 2011, about 20 percent of the number of jobs before the downturn.