NEW YORK — Stocks are sliding after first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, more evidence that the economy remains sluggish.
Major indexes are also retreating Thursday after a key reading on Europe’s economy indicated weakness in the 16 countries that use the euro.
The Labor Department says there were 465,000 first-time requests for unemployment benefits last week, a jump of 12,000 from a week earlier. Economists had predicted claims would be unchanged last week.
The Dow Jones industrial average is down 82, or 0.8 percent, at 10,657. The S&P 500 is down 9, or 0.8 percent, at 1,125, while the Nasdaq composite is down 18, or 0.8 percent, at 2,317.