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WORLD> US
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US retail sales' dip in July clouds recovery
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-14 15:27
In the United States, weak retail sales were widespread in July. One gauge that excludes autos, gas and building materials fell slightly, the fifth straight month of declines.
Gas station sales plunged 2.1 percent in July, more because of falling prices at the pump than shrinking demand. Employers cut the fewest number of jobs in July in nearly a year, and the unemployment rate fell for the first time in 15 months. But jobs remain scarce. More than 6.2 million Americans are receiving jobless benefits, the government said Thursday, 140,000 fewer than the previous week. Counting people taking advantage of an unemployment benefits program enacted by Congress, 9.25 million people received unemployment compensation in the week that ended July 25, down about 100,000 from the week before, as new claims rose but some recipients ran out of benefits and fell off the rolls, economists said. The nonprofit National Employment Law Project has calculated that 540,000 people will exhaust their emergency benefits without finding work by the end of September. And by the end of the year, it predicts 1.5 million will run out. That prospect has some in Congress calling for a further extension of benefits. Obama administration officials have said they would support an extension.
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