Andrew Ackerman

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 54,000 in August and private nonfarm payrolls increased by 67,000 as the federal government continued to shed Census workers, the Labor Department reported today. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6% after Labor upwardly revised its July estimate by 0.1% from an originally reported 9.5%.

WASHINGTON — The decline in U.S. nonfarm productivity in the second quarter was twice as much as originally reported, according to updated figures the Labor Department released Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims fell for the second week, decreasing 6,000 to 472,000 the week ending Aug. 28, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON-- U.S. nonfarm productivity decreased by 1.8% in revised second quarter figures released this morning by the Labor Department, a much greater drop than the 0.9% decline reported in the preliminary reading last month.

WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims decreased 6,000 to 472,000 for the week ending Aug. 28, dropping for the second week in a row, the Labor Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — More than 90% of municipal analysts surveyed believe they are more likely to hear about material events from the news than from issuers’ continuing disclosure notices, according to a new study.

WASHINGTON - Construction spending slid 1.0% in July as private residential construction sharply decreased, the Commerce Department reported today.

WASHINGTON — Moody’s Investors Service is pushing state and local issuers to agree to indemnify and hold it and its officers harmless for any mistakes they might make as a precondition to assigning ratings on municipal bond transactions, market participants said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Wednesday said it’s considering whether its Rule G-37 on political contributions should require municipal securities dealers to disclose the names of political action committees controlled by bank holding companies or other affiliates.

WASHINGTON — Existing home sales fell a record 27.2% in July to an annual rate of 3.83 million units as purchase activity continued to tumble following the expiration of federal subsidies, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — The Regional Bond Dealers Association is in the midst of a makeover as it expands from a scrappy startup of just 14 firms into a more established industry group that continues to focus exclusively on domestic fixed-income markets.

Dealers will have to submit bidding information and program documents for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations in nine months under an expansion of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s transparency system for short-term debt, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week.

WASHINGTON — Existing home sales fell by a record 27.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million units, representing a 12.5 month inventory of units, another record, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

A day after New Jersey settled securities fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose to bond investors that it was underfunding its two largest pension plans, offering documents for the state's record $2.25 billion short-term tax and revenue anticipation note deal included several pages of disclosures about the woefully underfunded retirement plans.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Tuesday said it is contemplating a rule change that would prohibit dealers from underwriting new negotiated or competitive bond issues if they served as the issuer's financial adviser on the transaction.

Producer prices rose 0.2% in July to post their first gain in in four months, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Tuesday said it is contemplating a rule change that would prohibit dealers from underwriting new negotiated or competitive bond issues if they have served as the issuer’s financial adviser on the transaction.

WASHINGTON - Producer prices rose 0.2% in July, the first monthly increase after three consecutive declines, the Labor Department reported.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms $242,500 for municipal rules violations. They include $150,000 against Raymond James Financial Services for supervisory failures related to so-called 529 college savings plans it sold to clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday approved a controversial set of rule changes floated by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board that will dictate the priority of retail and other customer orders in primary offerings, as well as dealers' related record-keeping responsibilities.