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AP
62,000 jobs lost, off nearly half-million for year
Thursday July 3, 4:18 pm ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Employers cut 62,000 jobs, sixth straight month of losses with even more layoffs looming
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

Weighed down by energy prices and the housing crisis, employers laid off workers in stores, factories and forsaken building sites.

With more job cuts expected in coming months, there's growing concern that many people will pull back on their spending later this year when the bracing effect of the tax rebates fades, dealing a dangerous setback to the shaky economy. These worries are rekindling recession fears. SNIP
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080703/economy.html

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Oil heads past $145 for 1st time; pump cost up too
Thursday July 3, 4:50 pm ET
By Adam Schreck, AP Business Writer
Oil surges to new highs above $145 a barrel; US pump prices at record near $4.10 a gallon
NEW YORK (AP) -- There's no cause for celebration among American drivers this holiday weekend.

Oil prices headed into the busy Fourth of July break with a bang, racing past $145 a barrel for the first time Thursday. The story was no different at the gas pump, where the national average soared to within a whisker of $4.10 a gallon.

For a nation accustomed to hopping in the car or jetting cross-country on what is typically one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, the numbers are sobering:

Last Independence Day, drivers were paying just $2.95 a gallon for gas -- about $1.15 less than today.

Oil prices are up more than 50 percent since the start of the year. Prices rose by a similar amount in 2007 -- but it took almost the entire year for them to make that trip.

Just this week alone, the cost of a barrel of oil jumped 3.6 percent. And that was a shortened week.

A barrel of light, sweet crude for August delivery now costs a record $145.29 as of Thursday's settlement price on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.72 from the previous day. Earlier in the session, the contract rose to $145.85 a barrel, also a new high. SNIP
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080703/oil_prices.html

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Service sector contracts as orders fall
Thursday July 3, 2:30 pm ET
Survey: Service sector sagged in June as new orders dropped
NEW YORK (AP) -- Higher oil prices caused service businesses to shrink in June, as falling new orders and rising costs hit the nation's coffee shops, paper mills and corner stores.

The Institute for Supply Management said Thursday that the services sector index fell to 48.2 in June from 51.7 in May. It missed economists' prediction of a reading of 51.0, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR. A reading above 50 signals growth.

The sector had been growing modestly, while much of the rest of the economy stalled. June's decline in the sector, coupled with Thursday's employment report showing the sixth straight month of job losses, added to the recent streak of bad news about the economy.

Bruce Kane, a Smithtown, N.Y. home accessories manufacturers rep, said stores he sells to are afraid to place orders for Christmas. "Come September, with home heating oil prices, they don't know what the customer is going to do," he said. SNIP

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080703/economy_services.html


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When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
~ Cree Prophecy ~