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Improvements All Around

Chart of the Week for October 17-23, 2003

Chart of weekly jobless claims vs. S&P 500 Index Values

So far in 2003 the slowly improving economy has helped fuel a stock market recovery that has been better than expected. Investors have been rewarded for staying the course as the S&P 500 Index has risen nearly 20% year to date through October 10. Also benefiting is the employment picture. Initial jobless claims have fallen for the second straight week, and four of the past five. The four week moving average is now below the benchmark 400,000 level, signifying stabilization in the labor market. The next task will be getting the business community to begin hiring. This will hopefully lower the number of continuing jobless claims and possibly lead to improvement in the overall unemployment rate which presently stands at 6.1%

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October 17, 2003