I haven’t gotten any questions yet today like, ‘Will you be here next year?’Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne • On the company’s slow bounceback. Chrysler hasn’t had the dramatic turnaround that Ford and GM have had since the nadir of the financial crisis, but they appear to be making headway with a new generation of vehicles – particularly the newest Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has done well despite the fact that SUVs have fallen out of fashion lately. The company’s collaboration with Fiat has also helped buoy Chrysler. So, how about paying back those loans from the bailout and other sources? “We are going to repay one hundred cents on every dollar of loans we received,” Marchionne said. source (via • follow)
» Is this a corner turned? It’s important to note that while weekly jobless claims figures aren’t exactly the end-all-be-all of unemployment statistics, the number has been headed in downward direction for weeks and is nearly 250,000 less than its peak in March 2009. While the numbers are seasonally adjusted, the Christmas holiday can have an effect on them, so it’s good to keep an eye on this number to see where it goes after the first of the year.
» Far better than predicted: Economists were expecting a hiring increase of around 60,000 in October, which was more than doubled. So hey, that’s a positive!
» The most impressive part: This is the highest that the Dow has closed since September of 2008, just before Lehman Brothers collapsed and turned the stock market into a shell of its former self. Alright, great. Now when are these largely rehabilitated firms going to start hiring some people back so everyone else can feel the economic recovery?