Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Wednesday 7 June 2017 BUSINESS
A24

Retailers lead US stocks to a second day of modest losses

a hedge.” monthly gain.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Investors found little en-
index fell 6.77 points, or 0.3 couragement in the latest
percent, to 2,429.33. The crop of outlooks from sev-
Dow Jones industrial aver- eral big retailers Tuesday.
age slid 47.81 points, or 0.2 In a presentation to inves-
percent, to 21,136.23. The tors, Macy’s Chief Financial
Nasdaq composite index Officer Karen Hoguet said
lost 20.63 points, or 0.3 per- the company’s gross mar-
cent, to 6,275.06. gins could fall more than
Small-company stocks Macy’s expected a couple
fared better than the rest of months ago, with the first
of the market. The Russell half of the year especially
2000 gave up 1.55 points, weak. The company con-
or 0.1 percent, to 1,394.90. tinues to grapple with too
Despite the two-day mar- much holiday inventory
ket slide, the major indexes and a lot of discounts on
remain near their most re- beauty products.
cent record highs set Fri- Macy’s was the biggest
day. decliner in the S&P 500, los-
For the second day in a ing $1.96, or 8.2 percent, to
row, trading got off to a $21.90.
subdued start Tuesday as Other department store
Trader Peter Tuchman works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. investors sized up the latest chains also fell. Kohl’s slid
Retailers led a modest slide in U.S. stocks Tuesday as the market eased back for the second day batch of company earn- $2.19, or 5.8 percent, to
in a row, pulling it further below record highs set late last week.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) ings and economic news. $35.73. Nordstrom gave
The Labor Department pro- up $1.51, or 3.6 percent, to
By ALEX VEIGA Conn’s and Casey’s Gen- biggest gain as crude oil vided some encourage- $40.14.
AP Business Writer eral Stores, also slumped prices rebounded. ment early on, reporting Conn’s sank 9.1 percent
Retailers led a modest slide after issuing disappointing “This is a market that’s tak- that job openings rose 4.5 after the furniture and mat-
in U.S. stocks Tuesday as the quarterly results or outlooks. ing a breather and is pre- percent in April to more tress retailer issued a disap-
market eased back for the Banks and other financial pared to move, the ques- than 6 million, the most pointing second-quarter
second day in a row, pull- companies also posted tion is in which direction?” since December 2000, outlook for sales at its es-
ing it further below record losses as the yield on the said Quincy Krosby, a mar- when the government be- tablished stores. The stock
highs set late last week. 10-year Treasury slipped to ket strategist at Prudential gan tracking the data. Still, declined $1.73 to $17.15.
Macy’s sank more than 8 2.14 percent, the lowest Financial. “Perhaps the hiring fell 4.8 percent. Casey’s General Stores slid
percent after warning that level since November. Low- move is going to be, in the On Friday, the government 8.4 percent after the con-
its profit margins could be er bond yields mean low- short term, a pullback and reported that employers venience store operator’s
weaker than the company er interest rates on loans, perhaps that’s another rea- added just 138,000 jobs latest quarterly report card
had forecast earlier. Sever- which hurt banks’ profits. son we have money going last month, about one-third fell short of analysts’ expec-
al other retailers, including Energy stocks notched the into the Treasury markets as below last year’s average tations. q
US companies posted record number of open jobs in April

By CHRIS S. RUGABER fewer people quit work. Job openings rose 4.5 per- earlier. That’s improved a Some economists argue
AP Economics Writer The figures suggest that cent in April to more than bit from several years ago, that slower pay raises sug-
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses are struggling 6 million, the Labor De- but is still below the pre- gest they may not be so
employers in April adver- to find qualified employees partment said Tuesday, recession pace of about 4 desperate after all. It’s easy
tised the most open jobs in as the unemployment rate the most since December percent. to post jobs on a website,
16 years, yet hiring fell and declines. 2000, when the govern- The government also said but employers may not fol-
ment first began tracking Friday that employers add- low through by recruiting
the data. Meanwhile, hiring ed just 138,000 jobs last more and offering higher
fell 4.8 percent to just over month, about one-third pay. One trend supporting
5 million. below last year’s average that view is a decline in the
The report is a sign the econ- monthly gain. Friday’s fig- number of people quitting,
omy is nearing or already ures represent a net total which slipped 3.5 percent
at “full employment,” when of jobs added minus jobs to 3.1 million in April. People
most of those who want a lost, while Tuesday’s report typically quit when they ei-
job have one and the un- includes overall hiring data. ther find a new job, usually
employment rate mostly re- Most economists interpret- at higher pay, or are con-
flects the churn of people ed last month’s decline in fident they can soon find
who are temporarily out of net job gains as a sign of one.
work. Typically, when un- full employment, which is For that number to fall at
employment falls that low, mostly a good thing, as the same time employers
companies are forced to opposed to evidence of a are posting a record num-
offer more pay, but that slowing economy. ber of job openings sug-
hasn’t yet happened. Yet that still leaves one gests that not many people
On Friday, the govern- question unanswered: Why are being lured away from
ment reported that aver- aren’t companies paying their current jobs by other
age hourly pay rose just 2.5 more, if they are so intent companies dangling at-
percent in May from a year on hiring? tractive pay.q