Stocks open lower after retail, unemployment data
Joe Bel BrunoWall Street is down sharply in early trading after retailers posted sluggish back-to-school sales reports and the government said the number of workers seeking unemployment benefits spiked last week.
Investors, still wary about the overall state of the economy, are feeling uneasy after many of the nation's retailers said shoppers curtailed spending last month due to higher gas and food prices. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, beat Wall Street projections because of its discounts.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance rose by 15,000 from the previous week. That broadly missed expectations for a fourth-straight week of declines.
The Dow Jones industrials are down 119 at the 11,413 level.
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