Jobless claims fall, signaling optimism

Jobless claims fall, signaling optimism

WASHINGTON

A steady decline in the number of people applying for weekly unemployment benefits is the latest signal that the economy has strengthened and businesses may be poised to step up hiring.

Applications fell last week to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the lowest level since late February.

And a four-week average for applications, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, fell for the ninth time in 11 weeks to an eight-month low.

The downward trend in unemployment-benefit applications bolsters the view that the economy has improved from its spring slump, when many feared another recession was likely. Consumer confidence is up, retailers reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season, and the unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest point in 21/2 years.

Ex-MF Global chief apologizes at hearing

WASHINGTON

The disgraced former CEO of failed investment bank MF Global told Congress on Thursday, in testimony compelled under subpoena, that he has no idea where a missing $1.2 billion went and insisted that he never instructed anyone to misuse customer funds.

Jon Corzine defied expectations that he’d appear before the House Agriculture Committee and plead his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Instead, the former Democratic U.S. senator and former governor of New Jersey offered a humble apology to MF Global’s investors and employees.

“Their plight weighs on my mind every day — every hour. And as the chief executive officer of MF Global at the time of its bankruptcy, I apologize to all those affected,” Corzine said.

EU weighs greater unity to save euro

BRUSSELS

European leaders are wrestling over how much of their sovereignty they are willing to give up in a desperate attempt to save the ambitious project of continental unity that grew from the ashes of World War II.

At stake at the summit in Brussels, which began Thursday evening, is not only the future of the euro, but also the stability of the global financial system and the balance of power in Europe.

To convince financial markets that Europe’s economy-crushing debt crisis is a one-time event, countries will have to give up significant powers, such as some decisions on borrowing and spending, to a central authority.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel want to persuade the other 15 eurozone leaders to agree to a plan that would require their governments to balance their budgets and accept automatic sanctions if they don’t.

At the same time, the currency bloc’s largest economies are being pushed to commit more money to boost the eurozone’s firewalls as the crisis threatens to pull down Italy and Spain.

Vindicator wire services