Business

Morning Market Roundup: Freddie Wants More Money, Euro Bank Takes no Action, Unemployment Applications Decline

Here’s what’s important in the business world this morning:

Freddie:  Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac is requesting $19 million in additional federal aid after posting a loss for the first quarter of this year.

That is less than the $146 million that Freddie received from the government for the fourth quarter of 2011. The company received $7.6 billion for all of 2011 and $13 billion for all of 2010.

McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac said Thursday that its net loss attributable to common stockholders was $1.2 billion, or 38 cents a share, in the January-March period. That compares with a net loss of $929 million, or 29 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2011.

The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae in September 2008 after massive losses on risky mortgages threatened to topple them.

Unemployment: The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in nearly a year.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly unemployment aid applications fell 27,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 365,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, ticked up to 383,500 last week.

However, other recent data have been mixed. A survey by payroll provider ADP, released Wednesday, said businesses sharply cut back on hiring in April.

On Friday, analysts expect the government to report that employers added 163,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent. That would be an improvement from March, when job growth slowed to just 120,000. But it would be below the average of 246,000 jobs a month added from December through February.

ECB: The European Central Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged despite worsening growth forecasts for the 17 countries that use the euro.

The bank’s governing council kept the key refinancing rate at a record low of 1 percent.

Market attention will focus on bank President Mario Draghi’s growth outlook at a news conference, and whether he will signal the bank could be more open to a possible rate cut down the road.

U.S. Workers: U.S. worker productivity fell from January through March by the most in a year.

While worker output rose, the number of hours worked increased by an even larger amount. That lowered productivity in the first quarter at an annual rate of 0.5 percent, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Productivity is the amount of output per hour of work. It fell after increasing at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the October-December quarter.

The decline after lackluster output last year could be a positive sign for jobseekers. It could signal that companies are struggling to squeeze more from their work forces and must hire to meet rising demand.

U.S. Futures: U.S. stock market futures edged higher Thursday after General Motors Corp. posted first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and the government said the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week.

Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 0.07 percent at 13,213. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures added 0.09 percent at 1,398.70, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.17 percent to 2,732.25.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Comments (13)

  • RayOne
    Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:16pm

    The midMonth Corrections have become a regular data reporting tool, this should cost the reporter their job and the organization be required to accept the numbers they give.
    It appears to be an intentional effort to corrupt the confidence in the organizations.

    Report Post » RayOne  
  • raderby
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 3:14pm

    like I said during Bush in 2008 – zero money for anyone. But I was correct, and that makes me crazy in this backwards world in which we live.

    I REPEAT – wake up America. If it feels wrong, looks wrong, smells wrong – it is wrong – your instincts were and will always be the best gauge

    Report Post » raderby  
  • jackact
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 11:13am

    This politically correct government bad mortgage machine (Freddie and Fannie) is the root cause of global economic meltdown.
    Who knew that the American home market had the entire world financial strings attached?
    Certainly not Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Bill Clinton and 99% of our ignorant and politically correct congress.
    Shut down this financial disaster before it destroys everything in its path!

    Report Post »  
    • johnjamison
      Posted on May 3, 2012 at 12:49pm

      Exactly,tell them to take it out of the 38 million dollar golden parachute Franklin Raines was paid to run Freddie into the ground.

      Report Post »  
  • aChameleon
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:55am

    The liar never counts on being found out. But, it’s pretty hard to convince someone that is unemployed that obama is creating jobs and the unemployment rate is going down. Doh. And the kicker– the majority of people responsible for creating jobs have been under attack, by obama, since joe the plumber. I‘m pretty sure these people aren’t in any hurry to go out and hire people to make obama look good. They’re probably just waiting another six months to see what happens. I mean, they’ve waited three and a half years. What’s another six months?

    Report Post » aChameleon  
  • hauschild
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:54am

    I love how even the Blaze finds it necessary to parrot the bogus unemployment numbers. They’re fudged – so why even discuss it? The only people that care about it are the idiots that fabricate the numbers in the first place.

    Let’s move on. We’re all a little better than Marxist talking points.

    Report Post »  
  • 13th Imam
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:41am

    Freddie didn’t receive Any money from the Gov.

    Freddie received money Stolen from Actual TAXPAYERS.

    Report Post » 13th Imam  
  • Beckofile
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:23am

    27000 fewer sheep lost their job due to the fact they were never hired in the first place.

    Report Post » Beckofile  
  • loveoursoldiers
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:07am

    and ( just heard this on the news)
    OBL was a worried terrorist
    why?
    because if they took out Preezie then Joe Biden would be preezie
    OMG
    I swear I didn’t make this up.. I just heard this
    hmmmmm
    is this why OBL is at the bottom of the sea ? or is he in a jar on someone’s trophy shelf?

    Report Post » loveoursoldiers  
  • crazyoz
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 10:01am

    “Unemployment applications decline” Yah, and obama is a Christian.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 9:53am

    The case of the lowering of unemployment is thus: Obama has the books being cooked in a desperate bid to show he is dealing better with the economy.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • Inlightofthings
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 9:49am

    Smoke and mirrors….everywhere, smoke and mirrors.

    Report Post »  
  • HKS
    Posted on May 3, 2012 at 9:40am

    As far as you know.

    Report Post » HKS  

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