NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are little changed in early trading on Wall Street. Kroger jumped 6 percent after the nation’s biggest supermarket chain reported higher profit and raised its earnings forecast for the year. Rite Aid shares were lower after the drugstore chain reported a 55 percent plunge in its latest quarterly earnings. Higher drug costs lowered the company’s profits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits is at its lowest level in more than six years. The Labor Department says weekly applications fell by 6,000 last week, to a seasonally-adjusted 312,000. The less volatile four-week average also declined. There are now 2.56 million people receiving benefits, the lowest total since October 2007, about two months before the recession began.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gauge designed to predict the economy’s future health has increased for the fourth month in a row. The Conference Board says its index of leading indicators rose 0.5 percent in May, an improvement from a revised 0.3 percent gain in April. The strength was broadly based with positive contributions from all the financial and labor components of the index.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average rates on fixed mortgages have eased slightly this week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for a 30-year loan declined to 4.17 percent from 4.20 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage dipped to 3.30 percent from 3.31 percent.
UNDATED (AP) — Violence in Iraq is pushing U.S. gasoline prices higher, depriving drivers of the usual price break between Memorial Day and July Fourth. The national average price of $3.68 per gallon is the highest price for this time of year since 2008, the year gasoline hit its all-time high. The average has risen every day for a week, and is now higher than it was on Memorial Day.
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