6at4 Business Report: Philly Manufacturing, Foreclosures; Black Friday Backlash

Bad numbers on Philadelphia manufacturing; better numbers on foreclosures; More Black Friday backlash.

Philadelphia Manufacturing
We had a report from the Philly Fed showed manufacturing in the area expanding less than expected this month, with orders and sales cooling. All of that overshadowing a third weekly drop in unemployment claims. In fact, the fewest people applied for unemployment in seven months!

Foreclosure Report
U.S. lenders started foreclosing on more properties in the third quarter. That's according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and is the first increase in a year, as lenders made progress working down the backlog that came about because of all their paperwork problems. There is some good news, though: The delinquency rate on mortgages fell to just under 8% from closer to 8.5% in the prior three months.

Black Friday Backlash
You know that Target employee who started a petition to protest Thanksgiving hours? It's up to 157,000 signatures. Now there's a petition on change.org opposing Best Buy's midnight Black Friday opening. It asks the store to move that to 5 a.m. Black Friday, so workers can spend the entire holiday with their families. It's got about 8,600 signatures.

Free Diapers
Huggies, along with the National Diaper Bank Network, donated a quarter million diapers to dozens of organizations across Philadelphia. They were distributed today to more than 100 social service agencies in the city. A recent study showed nearly 35% of families cut back on basics like food, in order to buy diapers, which can cost upwards of $100 a month. Philadelphia is one of 12 cities to receive the diapers.

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6at4, stock market, economy, black friday, home sales, best buy, target, business/finance

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