The Briefcase The Briefcase

Weekly new unemployment claims fall again in NC

New state unemployment insurance claims continued on a downward trend, dropping by 6.5% to 3,095 for the week that ended Aug. 26, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday.

North Carolina was 15th in the nation in the number of unemployment filings - up four spots from last week.

The Labor Department listed 20,605 North Carolinians drawing regular state benefits as of Aug. 19 compared with a revised 21,890 the previous week.

Richard Craver

Home furnishings orders remain mixed during June

New orders for home furnishings continued its recent uptick during June, rising 23% year over year to $2.5 billion as some larger retailers again placed bigger-than-normal orders.

Orders also were up 11% from $2.2 billion in May, according to the latest survey of U.S. manufacturers released Thursday by industry research firm Smith Leonard PLLC of High Point.

The May year-over-year increase had been the first positive gain since June 2021. Yet, about 71% of study participants reported an overall year-over-year decline in orders in addition to orders through the first half 2023 being down 8%.

Richard Craver

Eastern NC community banks agree to merger

Two eastern North Carolina-based community banks said Wednesday they have agreed to merge, with PB Financial Corp. paying $25.8 million to purchase Coastal Bank & Trust. The deal requires regulatory and shareholder approvals.

PB Financial, based in Rocky Mount, is the parent company of Providence Bank. Coastal Bank is based in Jacksonville.

The banks project the sale to close in the second quarter of 2024.

The combined bank would have $1.1 billion in total assets and 10 branches, including two in Rocky Mount and one each in Holly Ridge, Jacksonville, Morehead City, Nashville, Raleigh, Richlands, Tarboro and Wilson. There also is a loan production office in New Bern.

Richard Craver

Wall Street closes out losing month

A late-afternoon fade left stocks modestly lower Thursday as Wall Street closed out its first losing month since February.

The S&P 500 gave up an early gain to close 0.2% lower. The benchmark index ended August down 1.8%, though a four-day winning streak going back to last week helped chip away at the severity of the monthly decline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite eked out a 0.1% gain.

Market jitters over the possibility that the Federal Reserve might have to keep interest rates higher for longer after reports showed the U.S. economy remains resilient led to the market's pullback in August.

The central bank raised its main interest rate aggressively since 2022, to the highest level since 2001, to rein inflation back to the Fed's target of 2%. This week, reports on job openings, consumer confidence and inflation stoked hopes that the Fed may hold rates steady at its next policy meeting in September.

That helped limit the market's losses for August. The S&P 500, which soared 19.5% through July, remains 17.4% higher for the year, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 34.1%. The Dow is up 4.8%.

On Thursday, the government reported that a measure of inflation the Fed closely tracks remained low in July. The personal consumption and expenditures, or PCE, report is the latest sign that price increases are cooling. PCE measured 3.3% in July, matching economists expectations. That's down from 7% a year ago.

Bond yields fell again Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.10% from 4.11% late Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tracks expectations for the Fed, edged lower to 4.85% from 4.88% late Wednesday.

Health care stocks and banks were among the biggest drags on the market. UnitedHealth Group fell 3%, while Elevance Health fell 3.8%.

Gains in technology stocks helped stem the S&P 500's slide. Broadcom rose 3.4% and Intel rose 1.8%.

Software company Salesforce rose 3% after raising its profit forecast for the year. Cloud-based security company CrowdStrike jumped 9.3% after reporting strong financial results.

Dollar General was among several retailers slipping after reporting weak earnings and forecasts. It slumped 12.2% after cutting its profit forecast for the year.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 7.21 points to 4,507.66 Thursday. The Dow lost 168.33 points to 34,721.91, and the Nasdaq rose 15.66 points to 14,034.97.

Wall Street has one more big economic update this week: On Friday, the government reports employment data for August.

Markets in Europe mostly fell, while Asian markets were mixed.

Associated Press