Market Alert: Can A New Oil Discovery Push BP plc (BP) Over The Top?
The market lost ground this morning after a private sector report on unemployment failed to ease investors' concerns about job losses. Stocks fell modestly in early trading after the ADP National Employment Report said employment fell by 298,000 in August following a revised loss of 360,000 jobs in July. It was the smallest drop since September 2008, but ADP said employment is likely to decline for at least several more months. Worker productivity grew at the fastest pace in nearly six years in the spring while labor costs fell by the most in nine years, as companies slashed costs to survive the recession. The Labor Department said productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, rose at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in the April-June quarter, the largest advance since the summer of 2003. Economists expected an increase of 6.4 percent, matching the government's initial estimate last month. Labor costs fell at an annual rate of 5.9 percent. That's the largest drop since the second quarter of 2000, and slightly bigger than the 5.8 percent decline estimated a month ago. Oil prices hovered above $68 a barrel Wednesday after a two-day plunge as a drop in U.S. crude inventories suggested demand may be recovering.
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