Labor Market, U.s. Economy | featured news

Home resales rose in October and a gauge of homebuilder sentiment climbed to a six-year high in November, a sign slow improvements in the labor market are helping the housing sector recovery gain traction.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 355,000, a possible sign of a healing job market. But officials cautioned that the figures were distorted by Superstorm Sandy.

U.S. companies added 158,000 jobs in October, data from a payrolls processor showed on Thursday in a revamped report on the private sector labor market. The historical data for the ADP National Employment Report was revised as part of the new methodology, which was used for the first time in the October report. September's increase has halved to 88,200 new jobs from an initially reported 162,000.

The number of U.S. job openings fell slightly in August, a troubling sign for a labor market that is recovering at a painfully slow pace. Job openings - a measure of labor demand - dropped to 3.56 million from 3.59 million in July, the Labor Department said on Wednesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The data casts a small shadow over recent signs of improvement in the labor market.

Companies added 162,000 jobs in September, more than economists expected but still pointing to slow improvement in the labor market, data from a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods dropped sharply in August suggesting the main engine of economic growth was stalling, offsetting hopeful signs of an improvement in the labor market.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plunged 26,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, a hopeful sign for the job market. It's the lowest level of weekly applications in nine weeks.

Producer prices rose by the most in three years in August as energy costs surged, but underlying inflation pressures remained contained, keeping the door open to a further easing of monetary policy.

Odds are mounting that the Federal Reserve could take action as soon as Thursday to energize a U.S. economy that is struggling to gain momentum in the face of a lackluster labor market and uncertain fiscal policy, according to a Reuters poll.

The state's labor market showed continued resilience in July as California employers added 25,200 nonfarm jobs in July, continuing a 12-month streak of job gains. With that figure, the state posted the largest month-over-month increase in the country, but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.