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Assocaited PressDeficit and jobless claims jump, but stocks soarBy MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer – 20 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The nation's financial picture grew darker Thursday, a day marked by breathtaking numbers: a quarter-trillion-dollar budget deficit for a single month, a half-million new applications for unemployment benefits and a 900-point swing that led Wall Street to its third-biggest point gain ever.
Analysts predicted that the steady drumbeat of gloomy statistics would only get worse in coming months as the country endures what could be the worst downturn since the severe 1981-82 recession.
The initial costs of the government's economic bailout efforts sent the U.S. budget deficit for October soaring to a record $237.2 billion, putting it on track to reach the once-unfathomable sum of $1 trillion for the year. "And as bad as these numbers are, they may look good a year from now because things are going to get much worse," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University.
In more grim economic news released Thursday, the number of newly laid-off workers applying for jobless benefits last week hit the highest level since the period right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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