More Good Economic News
January 9th, 2006 by JackAs we begin 2006, more good economic news continues to roll in. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 today for the first time since before the September 11th attacks. This news comes on the heels of recent reports that jobless claims plunged to a five-year low.
These numbers certainly demonstrate that the Republican party’s pro-growth economic agenda of low taxes and fiscal restraint is a winning combination. Read all about it:
Dow Jones Industrials Close Above 11,000
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 11,000 Monday for the first time since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, lifted by a five-day rally that has sent stocks soaring so far in 2006.
According to preliminary calculations, the average of 30 blue-chip stocks ended the day up 52.59, or 0.48 percent, at 11,011.90, its first finish above 11,000 since June 7, 2001, when it closed at 11,090.74.
Monday’s advance followed a 241-point surge last week as investors grew increasingly optimistic that the Federal Reserve will soon end its string of interest rate hikes. Investment firms’ upgrades of Dow components General Motors Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. gave the Dow the final push above 11,000 Monday.
Jobless Claims Plunge To Five-Year Low
The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in more than five years last week, providing strong evidence that the labor market is shaking off the effects of a string of devastating hurricanes.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 35,000 to 291,000, the smallest number since Sept. 23, 2000, when the economy was in the concluding months of the longest economic expansion in history.
The decline of 35,000 claims was much better than Wall Street had been expecting and bolstered the belief that the labor market is on the mend after a rough period in the fall when Gulf Coast hurricanes caused the loss of more than 600,000 jobs over a period of four months.