LaborDepartment

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.

One thing that came out of President Obama's job summit last month was a national contest -- which ends Friday -- to come up with the best online job search and career advancement tools.

As the month of May came to an end, Main Street was buzzing with predictions about the next month's unemployment numbers. Finally that day came, and on June 2 I checked out the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Web site and it was no surprise that unemployment had increased to 9.5%. However, I was...