U.S. stocks marginally higher
NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks rose marginally in New York Thursday despite strong economic data on durable goods and labor.
The Census Bureau News said durable goods orders rose 9.9 percent in September compared to August, far exceeding the consensus forecast that called for a 6.9 percent gain.
The Labor Department said first-time jobless benefit claims dropped in the week ending Saturday.
Weekly jobless claims figures have been especially volatile of late, falling by 30,000 to a 56-month low two weeks ago and shooting up by 46,000 last week.
Claims this week dropped by 23,000 to 369,000, the department said.
Stock gains were muted, however, as investors are having trouble shaking off the doldrums brought on by disappointing third quarter corporate reports.
In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average added 14.65 points, 0.11 percent, to 13,091.99. The Nasdaq composite index gained 7.22 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,988.92. The Standard and Poor's 500 index reclaimed 4.14 points, 0.29 percent, to 1,412.89.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 12/32 to yield 1.833 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2959 from Wednesday's $1.2973. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 80.22 yen from 79.81 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.13 percent, 100.90 points, to 9,055.20.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose less than 0.01 percent, adding 0.27 points to 5,805.05.
Poll: Let tax rates for wealthy expire
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A majority of small-business owners say raising taxes on the top 2 percent of taxpayers is the right thing to do, a Small Business Majority poll indicated.
The poll, released Thursday, also indicated nearly six in 10 thought government can play an effective role in helping small businesses thrive.
A key argument for keeping a series of tax rate cuts enacted during George W. Bush's presidency is the claim that most small businesses file as individuals and would be impacted by increases in the individual tax rate -- a claim the organization says its polling shows is misguided.
While most respondents, 54 percent, report their business income is passed through to their personal taxes, only 5 percent reported having total income above $250,000, Small Business Majority said.
A majority said the most important task for Congress and the president next year was developing a plan to create more jobs, the poll indicated.
Nine in 10 small business owners said they favor eliminating tax breaks given for moving production aboard and support incentives to return manufacturing to the United States.
Seventy-two percent off small-business owners said they favor eliminating loopholes that favor large corporations. A majority said it would like to see tax breaks for gas and oil companies removed and support building on tax incentives that encourage clean-energy investment.
Finally, 48 percent of business owners said they were doing alright, 27 said they were doing well or very well, and 24 percent said their business is not doing well.
Small Business Majority said 47 percent of the small-business owners identified themselves as Republicans and 35 percent said they were Democrats.
Results are based on a telephone poll of 500 small-business owners conducted Sept. 27-Oct.12. The margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.
German manufacturing weakens, growth cut
MUNICH, Germany, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Manufacturing in eurozone giant Germany weakened in October, pushing the 17-nation economic and monetary union into further decline, a survey indicated.
The German Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 45.8 in October, its lowest reading since June 2009, down from 46.1 in September, London-based Markit Economics said.
The index drop was due in large part to a sharp fall in the automobile sector and exports to southern Europe, including Spain and Italy, struggling with a sovereign-debt crisis, the survey indicated.
Germany's $3.4 trillion economy is export-driven.
Manufacturing and services activity taken together dropped to 48.1 from 49.2, the survey found.
The index has been below 50 -- the threshold separating growth from contraction -- since February. It is derived from a poll of some 5,000 eurozone businesses.
"The eurozone has slid further into decline at the start of the fourth quarter," Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson said in a statement, adding: "Even Germany is not immune. It's very disappointing. It's a depressing scenario as things are getting worse."
The October reading is consistent with eurozone output projected to shrink more than 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous one, The Wall Street Journal said.
"The slowdown of the German economy is not only a consequence of the euro crisis, but also of the global economic cooling," ING Group economist Carsten Brzeski said in a research note.
The contraction in Europe's biggest economy was also reflected in a bigger-than-forecast drop in German business sentiment.
The Ifo Institute for Economic Research business climate index, which questions executives at 7,000 companies, fell for the sixth straight month to 100 in October from 101.4 in September.
That is the lowest it's been since February 2010, shortly before the first Greek bailout.
"The clouds over the German economy are darkening," Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn said.
Seasonal jobs have more promise this year
CHICAGO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. holiday shopping season is shaping up as one that holds significantly more opportunities for employment than in recent years, CareerBuilder said.
Not only are more retailers indicating they plan to hire, but more are indicating they will pay higher wages and offer new hires permanent positions, a survey sponsored by CareerBuilder and conducted by Harris Interactive found.
This year, 36 percent of respondents to a survey of retailers indicated they planned to hire extra help for the holidays, a strong jump from 29 percent in 2011, CareerBuilder said.
In addition, 62 percent indicated they expected to pay at least $10 per hour, up from 53 percent in 2011 and 22 percent indicated they would pay at least $16 per hour, up from 14 percent in 2011.
CareerBuilder also said 39 percent of respondents indicated some of their new hires would be offered full time, permanent position, a gain of nine percentage points from 2011.
That doesn't mean sit around and wait. Most of the seasonal hiring decisions are made in October, the firm said in a statement. And those who want a permanent job still have to stand out from the rest of the crowd.
CareerBuilder said sales jobs were not the most frequently mentioned by respondents to the survey, which was conducted Aug. 13 through Sept. 6 and included 2,494 responses.
Hospitality and administrative jobs were listed by 15 percent of the respondents, while shipping and delivery positions were listed by 14 percent.
Accounting and finance, inventory management, technology and sales were listed between 7 percent and 9 percent of the time, with sales jobs at the lower end of the scale.
"An increase in consumer confidence is helping to fuel the best seasonal hiring the United States has seen in recent years," said CareerBuilder Chief Executive Officer Matt Ferguson.
"While the bulk of seasonal recruitment falls within the retail space, companies across industries are hiring for a wide range of positions to support their business operations as they wrap up the year," he said.
Harris Interactive said that there was a 95 percent probability that the survey results included a sampling error of plus and minus less than 2 percentage points.
