First-time jobless claims rocketed higher last week.
A weaker start looms as earnings and bond insurers hold the spotlight, overshadowing the Fed’s latest rate cut. First-time jobless claims rocket higher by 69,000 in the latest week and real consumer spending flattens in December, further evidence the economy was getting weaker as the fourth quarter closed.
(Recasts and adds detail.) PARIS (MarketWatch) — French insurance company Axa SA said Thursday that strong sales growth in the U.S. and Australia, plus the contribution from its mid-2006 Winterthur acquisition helped lift revenue 20% in 2007. On a comparable basis – which figures in Winterthur’s results from all of 2006 and 2007 and is on a constant foreign-exchange basis – revenue would have been up 5.4% in 2007. Revenue over the period rose to EUR93.63 billion from EUR77.97 billion a year before.