U.S Jobless Claims Continue to Drop

U.S job claims dropped by 13,000 to 348,000 in the week ended February 11th, which signals that an improvement in the labor market will boost the economy. This news also benefited the stocks market as confidence rose that the U.S expansion is moving in the right direction amidst the European crisis and the slowdown in China. Companies have picked up their hiring process resulting in the unemployment rate dropping to a three-year low, in turn giving consumers the confidence to increase their spending. The S&P 500 Index rose by 1.1 percent to 1,358.05, and the yield on 10-year treasuries increased to 1.98 percent.