by Daniel Costello

The number of people filing for state unemployment benefits rose for a second straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The number of initial claims in the week ended Dec. 12 increased to 480,000, up 7,000 from the prior week.

The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to fall to 465,000.

 

Worries over Greece's debt woes grew Thursday, after Standard & Poor's lowered the country's credit rating and warned more downgrades may lie ahead. The news roiled many European markets with banking stocks in Athens hit particularly hard.

The closely watched yield spread between Greek and German 10-year government bonds widened to 262 basis points on Thursday. The unusual spread between the EU countries shows investors growing concerns about Greece, and their demand for higher interest to fund more Greek debt.

This news is hitting the Euro hard because of the possibility of more downgrades of Eurozone sovereign debt; the dollar continues to rise on the news.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said major economies including the U.S. could come up with $100 billion a year over the next decade to help developing nations fight climate change. The move is meant to help break an 11th-hour impass at the climate negotiations.

Mrs. Clinton said the plan would include both public and private money but did not specify what would be the U.S share.

The U.S. has said it would not committ to such a funding plan until other major economies agreed to more transparent carbon-emission reductions.