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Nov 6, 2009 5:51 pm US/Eastern
Gas Prices And Unemployment Dominate Economic Week
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Wall Street received good news from Detroit, but also faces the growing problems of unemployment, rising gas prices, and a fledgling dollar. Still, during the past economic week, the Dow Jones flirted with the 10,000 mark several times.
Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76 points and regained some of last week's losses. But on Main Street, consumers struggled to meet the rising prices at the pump. Some areas are seeing prices rise to $3 a gallon, making the cost of filling the tank, the highest it's been in more than a year.
On Tuesday, two of Detroit's big three pushed out some good economic results. Ford's October sales rose three percent, buoyed by the Cash for Clunkers program. GM also saw a 4.7 percent hike in sales as well in October. But, Chrysler may be on its last wheel after sales were down 30 percent, despite any government programs.
By Wednesday, the Federal Reserve held the line on interest rates, meaning the cost of money will remain at bargain-basement rates. The Fed said the economy is still too weak to worry about inflation from the low rates.
Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 10,000 again after numbers were released showing that new jobless claims are down. In addition, October retail sales rose 2.2 percent which helped boost the Dow.
Finally, investors were shaken, not stirred, over the news the unemployment rate checked in at 10.2 percent in October. The new rate is the highest unemployment has been since the Reagan administration in 1983. The trading day ended with the Dow just above 10,000, but investors were still unsure what to do given the economic struggles of Main Street.
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