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Financeroll – Companies added more workers than forecast in December, a sign that the U.S. labor market was gaining momentum heading into 2012, according to a private report based on payrolls. The 325,000 increase exceeded the highest projection and followed a revised 204,000 gain the prior month, the report from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP [...]

Financeroll – Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment insurance payments last week, showing the labor market is starting 2012 on better footing than a year earlier. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 15,000 in the week ended Dec. 31 to 372,000, Labor Department figures showed today. The average over the past four weeks declined to the [...]

Financeroll – Job cuts announced by U.S. employers increased in December from the prior year’s decade low. Planned firings rose 31 percent to 41,785 last month from 32,004 in December 2010, which were the fewest since June 2000, according to Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Job cuts totaled 606,082 for all of 2011, up [...]

Financeroll – The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes rose more than forecast in November as falling prices and low borrowing costs boosted demand. The index of pending home sales increased 7.3 percent to the highest level since April 2010 after climbing 10.4 percent the prior month, figures from the National [...]

Financeroll – Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits over the past month than at any time in the past three years, a sign the U.S. labor market is on the mend heading into the new year. The four-week moving average for claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, dropped to 375,000 last [...]

Financeroll – Residential real estate prices dropped more than forecast in the year ended October, showing a broad-based decline that indicates the housing market continues to be weighed down by foreclosures. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities dropped 3.4 percent from October 2010 after decreasing 3.5 percent in the year ended September, [...]

Financeroll – Consumer spending rose less than forecast in November as wages declined for the first time in three months, signaling the biggest part of the U.S. economy may struggle to pick up. Purchases rose 0.1 percent for a second month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes also grew 0.1 percent, the weakest [...]

Financeroll – Orders for U.S. durable goods rose in November by the most in four months as an increase in demand for aircraft outweighed declines in spending on computers and equipment. Bookings for equipment meant to last at least three years rose 3.8 percent after no change in prior month that was previously reported as [...]

Financeroll – The number of applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest since April 2008, a sign that the U.S. labor market is strengthening heading into 2012. Jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 364,000 in the week ended Dec. 17, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. A consistent slowdown in [...]

Financeroll – Britain’s budget deficit narrowed more than economists forecast in November as tax revenue increased and the government’s fiscal squeeze restrained spending. Net borrowing excluding support for banks fell to 18.1 billion pounds ($28.5 billion) from 20.4 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. Tax revenue rose [...]