New Measures To Boost Jobs Spanish Government Signs Pension Reform

The Eurozone economy expanded 0.3% in the third quarter after growing 1% in the second quarter. Leading economic indicators suggest that growth may have accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2010. The International Monetary Fund predicts 1.8% growth for Eurozone in 2010 and 1.5% for this year.

New Measures

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spain’s government and the country’s top trade unions Wednesday signed a wide-ranging agreement to reform Spain’s pension benefits, extending the mandatory retirement age to 67 years from 65 years in most cases, and also including new measures to lower unemployment.

Consumer Optimism

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil checked a week-long slide and turned higher, adding $1.46 to $87.10 per barrel. Home heating oil prices gained 0.15 cents to $2.6566 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.87 cents to $2.4219 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices rose 2.7 cents to $4.346 per million British thermal units.

Jobless Data

Also, U.S. durable-goods orders in December failed the markets’ expectation. The Commerce Department said orders fell 2.5 percent, while economists had expected a 1-percent rise. The weekly report by the Energy Information Administration said U.S. commercial oil storage rose in the week ended Jan. 21, which also pressured the oil price.