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U.S. Jobless Claims Inch Higher As Economy Sputters

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Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife

The past few weeks have been full of signals that the U.S. recovery has shifted into a slower gear, and another came Thursday as the Labor Department's weekly unemployment snapshot showed little improvement.

Initial unemployment claims came in at 427,000, a hair above last week's 426,000. The figures are still considerably better than the more than 450,000 we were seeing a year ago, but earlier this year hopes were the few readings below 400,000 were a sign of better things to come.

That trend has clearly reversed, illustrated most poignantly by last week's lackluster nonfarm payrolls report that showed the U.S. economy added just 54,000 jobs in May. In a speech earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he is frustrated by the slowdown in the recovery, but reiterated his optimism for the second half.

There has been little of that optimism in the stock market of late, with the major indexes stumbling for over a month and the S&P 500 threatening to fall below its 200-day moving average. Thursday morning offered something of a respite though, with the S&P signaling a slightly higher open.

In corporate news, Citigroup shares seemed little affected pre-market after the company reported hackers accessed credit card numbers of about 1% of its 21 million cardholders. Shares of Citi were little changed, up 0.2% pre-market. (See "Citibank Reveals One Percent Of All Accounts Exposed In Hacker Intrusion.")

Sony, which has been embroiled in its own controversy after multiple attacks on its PlayStation Network, has seen its share price crumble during a largely ineffectual response. (See "Sony Goes Silent As Hacking Spree Snowballs.")