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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are little changed in early trading on Wall Street as investors assess company earnings. Energy stocks were among the early gainers as oil recouped some of its losses from a big sell-off yesterday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week. The Labor Department says weekly applications rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 281,000. The increase occurred after applications plummeted to match a 15-year low in the previous week. The less volatile four-week average fell 3,000 to 282,250.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department reports that wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles by a modest amount in February, while sales kept falling. Wholesale stockpiles edged up 0.3 percent in February after a 0.4 percent gain in January. Sales dropped 0.2 percent following a 3.6 percent decline in January, which was the largest decrease in six years. Sales have either fallen or been flat for the past seven months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage rates are on the decline as the spring home-buying season gets underway. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.66 percent this week from 3.70 percent last week. The average rate for a 15-year mortgage fell to 2.93 percent from 2.98 percent last week. A year ago, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 4.34 percent and the 15-year rate was 3.38 percent.
DETROIT (AP) — After a five-year investigation, U.S. safety regulators have decided not to issue a recall over rusting pipes that carry brake fluid to some 5 million older Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC pickups and SUVs. Instead, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is recommending frequent car washes in areas where salt is used to treat roads in the winter. The agency is urging people in 20 cold-weather states and Washington, D.C., to take their cars and trucks for an undercarriage wash several times during the winter and to get their brake lines inspected for rust.
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