NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks rallied Thursday after the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in jobless claims, and a number of retailers reported improved October sales.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 160 points, or 1.7%, almost three hours into the session, though that is off slightly from earlier highs. The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 14 points, or 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) climbed 40 points, or 2%.

“Today’s big news was that we saw fewer claims for unemployment benefits,” said Mike Stanfield, chief investment officer at VSR Financial Services. “That suggests that the underlying economics are continuing to improve.”

He said that this was reassuring to investors following several weeks of concerns about the pace of the recovery. It was also encouraging for investors ahead of Friday’s monthly employment report.

Stocks have been volatile over the past three weeks, with the S&P 500 losing 5% through Wednesday’s close on worries that the rally has gotten ahead of the recovery. Between March 9 and the peak on Oct. 19, the S&P 500 gained 63%.

Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at historic lows near zero — and said it will keep them low for an extended period. But the decision was in line with expectations and had only a muted impact on stocks.

The issue for markets is whether there have been enough positive developments of late to give stocks another leg up, Stanfield said. He said he thinks that next leg could be delayed, and that stocks are likely to churn in a range for the next six months or so. After that point, investors will have a better sense of how the economy is doing without the benefit of trillions of dollars in government stimulus, which should help determine the next leg of the rally.

Gains were broad based, with 29 of 30 Dow issues rising, led by Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500).

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers three to one on volume of 520 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by three to one on volume of 1.04 billion shares.

Full story: money.cnn.com

EVANSTON, Ill., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ — /Manufacturers’ News, Inc./ –
Industrial employment in Tennessee fell 12.6% over the past twenty-four months according to the 2010 Tennessee Manufacturers Register, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers’ News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. MNI reports Tennessee lost 56,647 manufacturing jobs over the past two years, with 15,110 jobs lost between September 2007 and September 2008 and 41,537 industrial jobs from 2008 to September of this year.

Manufacturers’ News reports Tennessee is now home to 7,711 manufacturers employing 403,030 workers, compared to a high of 547,494 industrial workers recorded by MNI in 2001. Manufacturing jobs have declined steadily in the state since 2001, dropping 144,464 jobs or 26.4%. The loss of nearly 41,537 manufacturing jobs over the past year marks the sharpest decline MNI has ever reported in the twelve years it has been tracking the state’s industry.

“As with the entire nation, the recession continues to hit Tennessee’s core sectors, while the faltering housing market has affected industries such as wood products, furniture and building products,” says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912.

Full Article Here: www.reuters.com

Managers are planning to hire workers to support both long- and short-term initiatives, as 53% of employers expect to hire full-time employees over the next 12 months. Meantime, 40% will hire contract, temporary or project professionals and 39% will add part-time employees, according to a new survey by Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.

“Companies already are identifying the key skill sets they will need in new hires to take advantage of the opportunities presented by improving economic conditions,” said Max Messmer, chairman and chief executive officer of Robert Half International. “Firms that cut staffing levels too deeply may need to do significant rebuilding once the recovery takes hold.”

In the current economy, hiring managers consider customer service the function most critical to their organization’s success, followed by sales, marketing/creative and technology. Public relations/communications, business development and accounting/finance round out the list, the survey found. Looking ahead, respondents cited technology, customer service and sales as the departments that will add positions first. Marketing/creative, business development, human resources and accounting/finance also were cited.

When the pace of hiring begins to accelerate, entry- and staff-level workers can expect to benefit the most in terms of new opportunities. Some 32% of hiring managers plan to hire staff-level professionals, while 28% will hire entry-level workers. Companies may be looking to restore positions affected by layoffs or hiring freezes while continuing to rely on existing staff to occupy leadership positions.

Because companies are operating with fewer resources, hiring managers further appreciate the value of team members who can wear many hats. Asked to identify the most valuable characteristics in an ideal new hire, employers cited multi-tasking, initiative and creative problem-solving.

Despite high unemployment rates across the United States and an expanded pool of available talent, employers continue to report difficulty locating skilled professionals for open positions. Employers said that, on average, 44% of resumes they receive are from unqualified candidates. Fully 47% of hiring managers cited under-qualified applicants as their most common hiring challenge, followed by the reluctance of qualified candidates to leave secure positions (22%).

As they lay the ground work for growth in their organizations, employers are open to paying more for hard-to-find talent; 61% of hiring managers said their companies are willing to negotiate higher compensation for qualified candidates.

Read Full Story Here: Business Journal Daily

The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits fell more than economists predicted, a sign some employers have stopped paring staff as the recession eases.

Applications dropped by 38,000 to 550,000 in the week ended Aug. 1, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington, marking the fifth consecutive week of fewer than 600,000 claims. The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance rose.

The pace of job cuts has slowed even as unemployment is projected to exceed 10 percent by early next year. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News say a report tomorrow will show the jobless rate jumped to the highest in 26 years in July. Stagnating wages and falling home values also mean consumer spending, 70 percent of the economy, will be slow to recover.

“These numbers signal the worst is behind us, but we are not out of the woods yet,” said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. “We are not going to see strong consumer spending with numbers that look like this.”

Full Story Here: Bloomberg.com

Scott Winter was prepared for about three months of unemployment when a publishing house laid him off in March.

With his severance pay and unemployment benefits, plus his wife’s salary from a teaching assistant job, the Franklin family of four was making it, at first. Now, he’s beginning to panic.
“What I did defined me…,” said Winter, 38. “Here I am five months later, and I can’t get interviews. The identity crisis is huge for me, because it’s not just the pressure to provide for my family. I think, ‘What were my last 12 years about?’ “

Winter is part of the fastest-growing demographic looking for work during one of the worst economic downturns in the nation’s history. Across the country and in Tennessee, so many men have lost their jobs since the recession began that a Canadian news organization coined the term “mancession” to describe it.
Those who watch social and economic trends say a pattern of job loss among families’ chief breadwinners may prompt major changes — moving more families into poverty, more men into traditionally female-dominated jobs and killing the concept of a “macho man.”

“A loss of income can lead to a loss of the masculine identity as a breadwinner,” said Ron Aday, a professor of sociology at Middle Tennessee State University who specializes in family dynamics. “There is … real potential for emotional turmoil and even household tension for even those men in more egalitarian relationships, where two people are ordinarily pulling the cart.”

Across the country, unemployment has reached its highest level since the Great Depression, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. In June, the male rate was 10 percent and the female rate was 7.6 percent.
In Tennessee, new unemployment insurance claims filed by men between July 1, 2008, and June 30 grew at a rate of almost 50 percent higher than those filed by women.

Scary time for men
But throughout U.S. history, white men have been employed at higher rates than other workers, said Mark Perry, professor of economics at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Source: Tennessean.com

The economy is showing signs of stabilizing in some regions of the country – especially in parts of the Northeast and Midwest – bolstering hopes of a broader-based recovery this year.

Economic conditions in the Richmond, Va., district, which includes the Carolinas, however, remain “weak.”

A Federal Reserve snapshot of economic conditions issued Wednesday found that most of the Fed’s 12 regions indicated either that the recession was easing or that economic activity had “begun to stabilize, albeit at a low level.”

The economy is still fragile. But the fact that some Fed regions reported signs of activity beginning to level out raises hope that the recession, which started in December 2007, is drawing to a close.

Four Fed regions – New York, Cleveland, Kansas City and San Francisco – pointed to “signs of stabilization,” the survey said. Two regions – Chicago and St. Louis – reported that the pace of economic declined appeared to be “moderating.”

Five other regions – Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta and Dallas – described activity as “slow,” “subdued” or “weak.” Only one region – Minneapolis – indicated that its downward slide in economic activity had worsened.

Combined, the assessments of businesses on the front lines of the economy appeared to be brighter than those they provided for the previous Fed report in mid-June.

Nationally, the residential real estate remained “soft” in most Fed regions, though “many noted some signs of improvement.” By contrast, commercial real-estate activity weakened further.

In the Richmond district, residential real estate agents gave mixed reports.

One Fairfax, Va., Realtor described the market for houses priced between $400,000 and $1.2 million as “hot,” while Realtors in Greensboro and Asheville reported sluggish house sales. The Asheville contact said his area was “buckling down and weathering the storm.” The district covers the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, most of West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Across the district, retail and service firms made less money, paid workers less and kept staffing levels stable or reduced ranks, according to the report.

Retailers were “fighting for a little piece of what money is out there,” one manager at a chain department store outside Washington, DC, told the Fed. Generally, big-ticket sales suffered. A few building supply stores in coastal South Carolina reported an uptick in sales. And while sales of US-made automobiles languished, dealers of foreign-made automobiles reported sales were soft to “pretty good.”

Hospitals, however, reported steady demand. An executive at a hospital in central North Carolina said the hospital was starting to see more unemployed patients.

Full Story: Charlotteobserver.com

A panel of 45 U.S. economists expects a “modest” economic rebound to begin in the second half of 2009, picking up steam in 2010.

According to the National Association for Business Economics, “The panel … (predicts) positive, albeit modest, growth in the third quarter, followed by steady improvement thereafter. On the whole, however, the economic rebound lacks luster. Real GDP growth over the second half of 2009 is expected to average a well-below-trend 1.2 percent pace.”

The forecasters say growth in 2010 “is slated for a return to near its historical trend, with real GDP rising 2.7 percent on a fourth-quarter-to-fourth-quarter basis. … (But) next year’s expected growth in GDP would be considerably more moderate than the typical rebound following a steep decline.”

Full Story on CharlotteBusinessJournal.com

Small businesses worldwide remain optimistic about their long-term prospects despite the economic downturn, according to a survey conducted in April by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

According to the survey, 83 percent of small-business executives are optimistic about their company’s long-term ability to rebound when the economy improves. About 65 percent expect their company’s market share to increase by the time the recession ends, and 73 percent expect revenue to have grown by then.

Only 6 percent of small-business executives worldwide expect the quality of talent in their organizations to decrease once the economy improves; 38 percent expect it to increase.

Yet many of the business leaders surveyed say their governments are doing too little to support them through the worldwide downturn.

Forty-eight percent said local government is unsupportive of their business, and 39 percent say the same of national governments.

Full Store Here: Charlotte BizJournal

KNOXVILLE – The Department of Energy (DOE) continues to be a major force in the state’s economy with its offices and laboratories attracting a well-educated workforce, providing more than 12,000 jobs and paying an average salary significantly higher than the state average.

UT’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) recently completed an in-depth analysis of the economic impact of DOE on the state economy. This study, which looked at fiscal year 2008, is the eighth such report CBER has done for DOE. Previous reports were done for fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Among the findings:

- DOE and its major contractors in Tennessee directly provided 12,373 full-time jobs in 2008.

- Annual wages and salaries associated with these jobs totaled $803.4 million.

- The average annual salary of a DOE employee in 2008 was $64,687, significantly above the state average.

- Of DOE employees in 2008, 1,036 held doctorate degrees; 1,820 held master’s degrees; and 3,675 held bachelor’s degrees.

- DOE and its contractors purchased more than $926.7 million of goods and services from in-state businesses in 2008 and paid about $29.4 million in state and local taxes.

The report also explains that every job, every salary and every dollar spent by DOE ripples across the state’s economy.

“Not only does DOE make purchases from in-state businesses, it employs a sizable workforce and those people dine at restaurants, buy goods from retailers and otherwise support the local economy,” said Matt Murray, CBER associate director and lead researcher on the study.

Through this ripple effect, UT researchers estimate that every DOE job helps create about 3.7 jobs across the state. Each dollar of income directly paid by DOE in the state translates into $2.08 in personal income for Tennessee residents. The total personal income generated in the state by DOE-related activities was about $2.3 billion in 2008.

Further, CBER economists estimate that DOE’s payroll and nonpayroll spending led to a $4 billion increase in the state’s gross domestic product, the market value of all final goods and services produced. Looking again at the ripple effect, researchers estimate that for every dollar directly spent by the DOE in Tennessee, the state’s gross domestic product increase by $1.87.

Two other statistics also were significant:

- DOE, its contractors and their employees donated more than $5.7 million in charitable contributions, community grants and equipment to organizations across Tennessee in 2008.

- The American Museum of Science and Energy drew 85,689 visitors during fiscal year 2008.

“The presence of DOE and its contractors in Tennessee gives rise to many benefits, both quantitative and qualitative,” the report concludes. “The jobs provided are most often high-skilled, high-paying jobs resulting in a high equality workforce comprised of some of the top researchers in their field.

“The presence of the DOE also provides the state with national recognition as a leader in manufacturing, advanced materials, neutron sciences, biological sciences and transportation technologies. With its (research and development) capacity and technology sharing programs, the DOE plays a significant role in enhancing Tennessee’s competitive position in attracting private firms to locate with the state.

Full story here: TheUniversityofTennessee.edu

KNOXVILLE — Although economic conditions for the state and nation remain dire, there are early indications that a slow turnaround may be coming.

That’s the cautious optimism expressed in the spring update to the 2009 Economic Report to the Governor, prepared for Gov. Phil Bredesen by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Tennessee. The report’s author is Matt Murray, UT economics professor, CBER associate director and chairman of the Blount County Economic Development Board.

“Pervasive weaknesses are present elsewhere in the economy, and data for the first quarter of the year are nothing less than miserable,” the report says, but adds “at least there are tidbits of good news coming from the economy.”

Among those tidbits of good news: “Consumer sentiment has improved slightly from very depressed levels, mortgage applications are up, the stock market has seen significant gains in recent weeks, and the housing market situation appears to be stabilizing.”

The update reports that a rebound in economic activity should occur in the third and fourth quarters of this year: “Quarterly rates of decline in economic activity will generally decelerate in the next several quarters. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will return to the black in the fourth quarter of the year, as will nominal personal income for both the state and the nation. Growth will then be re-established over the course of 2010. Low interest rates and falling housing prices are expected to revive the housing sector, while fiscal stimulus will help prop up the spending side of the economy, together promoting the economic recovery.”

Full Story Here: TheDailyTimes.com