Venture Capital Magazine

Investors looked past a jump in the nation’s unemployment rate and focused on a drop in the number of layoffs as a reason to push stocks higher.

The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since 1983, reflecting a poor job market that will make it hard for the economy to begin a sustained recovery.

President Obama’s plan to regulate Wall Street could be thrown a curve if Sen. Tim Johnson takes over the chairmanship of the Senate’s banking committee.

New jobless claims fell slightly last week while the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose, a sign the job market’s recovery will be long and bumpy.

Shoppers limited their back-to-school purchases and stayed focused on necessities in August, resulting in the 12th straight month of declining sales for retailers.

Stocks edged higher in narrow trading Thursday as investors found little in a series of economic reports to push the market forward after a four-day slide.

Natural gas prices tumbled again Thursday, hitting new seven-year lows as the country pares down on energy usage and more unused supply is put into storage.

Top finance officials at a G20 meeting in London are expected to stress their commitment to boosting the global economy for now — despite friction over when to scale back stimulus efforts amid growing signs of recovery.

Auto theft is down nationwide, but old Honda Accords and Civics are still being filched for their parts.

Mazda believes hydrogen could help its its rotary engine move from a niche to mainstream source of power, beating rival approaches like fuel cell vehicles and battery cars.