DOWN AGAIN: Stocks fell, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down 144 points, after a surprising jump in first-time claims for unemployment benefits and a report of weaker manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic states.
MANUFACTURING SLIDE HURTS: Analysts said the report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve was particularly painful because industrial companies were leading the recovery earlier this year.
DUBIOUS MILESTONE: The Labor Department said first-time unemployment claims reached 500,000 last week. That's the first time they hit that number since November 2009.
