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- BUSINESS, Page 59Business NotesJOBLESSNESSThe Party May Be Over
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- In the clearest signal yet that the U.S. economy may be
- heading into the doldrums after a 6 1/2-year expansion, the
- Government reported last week that the unemployment rate jumped
- to 5.3% in April, up from 5% the previous month. The hefty
- increase reflected a surge of 395,000 people into the labor
- force as the number of jobs fell by 23,000.
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- Wall Street gave the report a mixed reception as economists
- debated whether the figures foreshadowed merely sluggish growth
- or a genuine recession. Bullish investors initially set off a
- rally Friday on the assumption that inflation might no longer
- be a danger and the Federal Reserve Board would soon allow
- interest rates to fall. But fear of a slump took hold later in
- the day, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to 2381.96 at
- the closing bell, down 2.94 points for the day and 36.84 for the
- week.
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