Labor Department

U.S. stock futures are higher with the government reporting that weekly jobless claims edged downward last week, suggesting that employers may accelerate hiring this month.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a four-year low last week, suggesting employers kept hiring in March at a healthy pace. Weekly applications dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The number of people seeking unemployment aid neared a four-year low last week, a positive sign that strong hiring could continue in the coming months. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000. That's the second-lowest level since April 2008.

Many companies have done away with pensions, replacing them with 401(k) plans and related options that put responsibility for retirement saving squarely on you. But those same corporations have also been pushing to keep you in the dark about the plans' costs.

Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame. The Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in September, below August's 0.4% rise. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.1%, the smallest rise since March.

Looks like rough sailing ahead: Moody's warned the GOP that its game of chicken with the debt ceiling risked a downgrade of U.S. debt. But there are some things that investors can look forward to.

The unemployment rate fell last month in 39 states, evidence that companies are feeling more confident about the U.S. economy. Nationally, businesses have added more than 250,000 jobs per month, on average, in the past three months -- their fastest hiring spree in five years.

Two sets of labor statistics data, released this week, point to a divergence between the job-openings rate and the total number of employees on nonfarm payrolls. And that divergence may well serve as a leading indicator for the labor market as a whole.

In January, job creation was anemic, yet unemployment plummeted. What gives? The answer lies in the quirky way the government decides who gets counted as part of the work force, who gets counted as officially unemployed and who gets left out of the picture.

Private employers added 187,000 jobs in January, ADP announced Wednesday, 47,000 more then economists had predicted. That marks the fourth straight month of significant job gains -- a trend that suggests the U.S. labor market is recovering.