Initial jobless claims slowed last week

Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, indicating employers are slowing the pace of firings as the economic outlook improves. Jobless claims decreased by 9,000 to 346,000 in the week ended Saturday from a revised 355,000 the prior period, the Labor Department reported. The Bloomberg survey median called for 345,000 claims. No states were estimated and there was nothing unusual in the data, a Labor Department spokesman said. Smaller reductions in head counts indicate employers are confident enough that demand will be sustained as the housing market improves and consumers grow more optimistic. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, dropped to 345,750 last week from 348,500.

Personal income, spending rose last month

Consumers' personal income and spending rose in May. The 0.5 percent increase in personal income, reported by the Commerce Department, exceeded analyst expectations of a 0.2 percent rise. The figure was an improvement over April's 0.1 percent increase and shows consumers had more money to spend. That was reflected in the spending figures for May. Personal consumption expenditures rose by 0.3 percent last month after declining by 0.3 percent in April.

Short sellers have knives out for BlackBerry

Bets against BlackBerry Ltd. reached a record high as the Canadian smartphone maker prepares to report quarterly results Friday and give investors a clearer picture of how its new BlackBerry 10 devices are selling. The combined short interest in market value of BlackBerry shares in New York and Toronto reached 33 percent of the market value on June 20, according to data compiled by Markit, a financial services firm. Investors taking short positions bet against a stock by borrowing shares they expect to fall, aiming to profit by repaying the borrowed equities at a lower price. Friday's results will include the first full quarter in which the new touch-screen Z10 has been on sale, giving investors an important indicator of whether BlackBerry's recovery is on track.

Irish economy contracted in first quarter

Ireland's economy shrank for a third quarter in the first three months of the year after expanding in 2012 at less than a quarter of the pace previously estimated. Gross domestic product declined 0.6 percent from the fourth quarter, which was revised down to a 0.2 percent contraction, the Central Statistics Office said. Growth in 2012 was revised to 0.2 percent from 0.9 percent, it said. The first-quarter slump was led by exports and consumer spending and puts Ireland, which received a $88 billion bailout in 2010, back in recession for the first time since 2009.

GE Capital boosting real estate lending

GE Capital Real Estate, among the world's biggest property investors before getting burned in the financial crisis, is increasing lending this year as deals accelerate and the cost of borrowing jumps in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. The unit of General Electric Co. plans to make about $7 billion of new loans on North American real estate, up 40 percent from last year, said Alec Burger, North America president of GE Capital Real Estate, based in Norwalk, Conn. U.S. commercial transactions jumped 35 percent in the first quarter to $72.8 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based property research firm.

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