commodities
Commodity prices fallPosted by RJ and Makay on May 16, 2012 |
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Bullish bets on commodities by hedge funds and other managers fell by 20%, or $18 billion, last week as commodity prices dropped to four-month lows, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data last Friday. As speculators continued liquidation of long positions in oil, metals and agricultural markets, the CFTC is expected to report a further drop in long commodity positions in its May 18 report, analysts said.
As the overall unemployment rate in April dipped slightly to 8.1% amid less-than-expected job gains, the financial activities supersector unemployment rate dropped to 5.5%, from 5.7 in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The supersector gained 1,000 jobs month-to-month from 7,718,000 positions in March to 7,719,000 in April.
While the overall unemployment rate in March dipped to 8.2% amid less-than-expected job gains, the financial activities supersector unemployment rate rose from 5.3% to 5.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, the supersector gained 15,000 jobs month-to-month from 7,706,000 positions in February to 7,721,000 in March.
