Filed under: Economy The song remains the same in the nation’s labor market. Continuing claims surged 172,000 to a record 6.02 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday, as more Americans found it hard to find comparable employment amid the nation’s worst recession since 1981-82....

Filed under: Economy The song remains the same in the nation’s labor market. Continuing claims surged 172,000 to a record 6.02 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday, as more Americans found it hard to find comparable employment amid the nation’s worst recession since 1981-82....

Filed under: Company News , Earnings JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) reported first quarter earnings this morning. Despite profit being 10 percent lower than last year at $2.14 billion, or 40 cents per share, it topped estimates of 32 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters thanks to rising deposits and...

Filed under: Company News , Earnings I’m an Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) shopper (my Kindle 2 is supposed to arrive today!), but I was still surprised to Financethat the company could be responsible for one out of every three online purchases. Barron’s quotes RBC Capital analyst Stephen Ju as...

Filed under: Company News , Earnings JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ), the biggest U.S. bank, followed rivals Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) in reporting first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ expectations this morning. Net income was $2.1 billion, or 40 cents per share, a decline of...

Filed under: Economy The Wall Street Journal reports today that just as the Obama housing rescue plan gets underway, many banks are increasing their number of foreclosures. JPMorgan ( JPM ), Wells Fargo ( WFC ), Fannie Mae ( FNM ), and Freddie Mac ( FRE ) have all ended their self-imposed moratoriums...

Filed under: Company News , Economy , Investing Billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell called a bottom to the residential real estate market on Bloomberg TV this morning. He thinks by summer the “affordability factor” will make residential real estate “very attractive,” although...

Filed under: Company News , Economy During the Great Depression, Americans flocked to ornate movie houses to forget about their troubles. Now, they are turning to impersonal multiplexes for relief. Movie admissions are up about 10 percent year-to-date, according to the National Association of Theater...

Filed under: Economy Say one thing about the financial crisis : it’s certainly scrambled — or at least temporarily suspended — the usual economic coalitions. Economic liberals, like U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, and Chairman of the pivotal House Financial Services Committee...

Filed under: Columns , Economy If the economy has a canary in the coal mine, it’s advertising. Companies tend to slash their budgets at the first sign of a slowdown, and this recession is no exception. Global advertising spending is forecast to drop 6.9 percent this year, the biggest decline in...