The Big Picture
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 11/8/2004
About 40 percent of northeastern U.S. manufacturing businesses surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported increases in activity, new orders and shipments in October.
Jobless claimsThe 329,000 initial unemployment claims filed during the week ending Oct. 16 were down 25,000 from the previous week, according to the Department of Labor. The unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending Oct. 9.
Air travelNearly 40.5 million paying passengers boarded flights in September, up 5.6 percent from September 2003. The 406.7 million paying passengers who have boarded flights so far this year represent a 5.7-percent increase over the year-ago period.
