U.S. jobless claims barely improved at all for the week ended Oct. 3, declining just 9,000 to 840,000. While the U.S. economy is recovering from the pandemic-driven stay-at-home orders put into place earlier this year, job losses remain a big problem.
The not-so-great unemployment news wasn't enough to derail the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was up about 0.2% at 11:25 a.m. EDT, with International business Machines (NYSE: IBM) the strongest performer. IBM announced a major spinoff, the biggest move yet from the tech giant to reposition itself for the cloud computing era.
Shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) didn't fare as well, down slightly despite the company reporting U.S. sales growth and boosting its dividend.
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Dow Jones Rises as IBM Announces Major Spinoff, McDonald's Reports Positive U.S. Sales Growth