An unexpected decline in applications for jobless benefits last week indicates companies remain optimistic the economy will persevere after cooling in the second quarter. The average number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the last four weeks dropped to the lowest...
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Photograph by George Frey/Bloomberg
Engineers work on the graphite super structures of the science module section of the James Webb Space Telescope at Alliant Techsystems Inc.'s (ATK) Space Components Division in Magna, Utah.
Unemployment Claims Lowest Since November 2007
Photograph by John Moore/Getty Images
Commuter passengers move through Penn Station on April 16, 2013 in New York City.
April Jobs Report: Caveats
At the risk of raining on Wall Street’s parade today after the Labor Department’s April employment report, there are some caveats in the data. Of the jobs added last month, many were in industries that typically don’t pay a lot. The average number...
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Photograph by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
The 2013 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
Economy: Trouble Mustering Golf Clap
The Masters, golf’s first major tournament of the year that is currently under way in Georgia, helps usher in spring. Also emerging at the start of the spring season is tepid economic data. And figures today showed the economy is...
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Photograph by Seth Wenig/AP Photo
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 27, 2013.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 14,075.37
That’s where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday, its highest level since October 2007. The Dow added 175.24 points and closed within 90 points of its record. The advance was led by JP Morgan Chase & Co., Caterpillar Inc.,...
Read more »Lobbyists Get Head Start on Potential EU Trade Accord
From Bloomberg Government’s Congress Tracker blog More than two dozen companies, trade associations and farm groups already had a head start lobbying on a potential trade accord with the European Union when President Barack Obama announced in his Feb. 12 State...
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Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Republican Policy Luncheon on Capitol Hill.
McConnell’s Warchest: $7.4 Million
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who’s seeking a sixth term in 2014, began this year with $7.4 million in campaign funds. The Kentucky Republican raised $769,000 in the final three months of 2012, according to a report McConnell’s campaign filed...
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Washington’s precarious fiscal-cliff stalemate. Photograph by Steven Puetzer
JPMorgan: Fiscal Cliff Slow-Walking Feeds Stock Market Volatility
Volatility has returned to U.S. stocks since the presidential election, and it’s partly Washington’s fault as the fiscal-cliff stalemate makes investors more and more skittish, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. And even bigger swings may be on the way...
Read more »Washington Daybook: Financial Gain
Written by Jim O’Connell Financial firms such as JPMorgan Chase would benefit from a Mitt Romney victory in the presidential election, analysts say, and Dodd-Frank Act regulations that take effect today might show why. The rules require companies to begin tallying derivatives trades to...
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Photograph by Norm Betts/Bloomberg
Lloyd C. Blankfein says he would be willing to pay higher taxes if he felt the increase was part of a solution aimed at helping reduce the national debt.
Blankfein: Tax Me, If It Will Help
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein says he would be willing to pay higher taxes if he felt the increase was part of an overall solution aimed at helping reduce the national debt. “No one is...
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Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The Supreme Court building in Washington.
Washington Daybook: New Beginnings
Fall, not Spring, is the season of new beginnings in Washington, with today’s start of the government’s fiscal year and a new term of the Supreme Court. For the 15th consecutive time, the federal fiscal year starts without Congress having finished...
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Contributors
-
Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
