Financial Headline News for Friday 6/17

The Dow rose 42.84, shaking off a six-week losing streak which was the longest since 2002. The S&P also gained 3.86 but the Nasdaq fell 7.22 as investors are clinging to safe blue chip stocks due to the Greece debt crisis.

Things continue to look gloomy on the jobs front as the Unemployment rate fell in fewer than half the states.

The IMF cut its forecast for US Growth today.

Today's leading financial stories are:

1) Unemployment falls in fewer than half US states-From the AP

Unemployment rates fell in fewer than half of U.S. states, a sign that job growth has slowed in many parts of the country.

The unemployment rates dropped in 24 states, the Labor Department said Friday. Rates rose in 13 states and Washington, D.C, and were flat in 13. That's a significant decline from April, when 39 states reported falling unemployment rates.

The changing trend in state unemployment rates reflect a weaker economy that has been hampered by high gas prices and lower factory output. Nationally, employers added a net gain of only 54,000 jobs in May, compared to an average of 220,000 per month in the previous three months. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent.

Only 22 states reported a net gain in jobs in May, while 27 states lost jobs. That's much worse than April, when 42 states gained jobs.

California, New York and Pennsylvania reported large job losses, partly reversing gains earlier this year.

California said employers cut 29,200 jobs last month, with big losses in professional and business services, which includes accounting, engineering, and temporary services. The construction sector also lost jobs.

New York said employers cut 24,700 jobs and Pennsylvania reported a drop of 14,200 jobs.

Florida, meanwhile, reported the biggest job gains. Employers in the Sunshine State added a net total of 28,000 positions. The state's unemployment rate dropped for the fifth straight month to 10.6 percent. The gains were mostly in education and health services and in leisure and hospitality, which includes amusement parks, hotels and restaurants.

2) Dow Industrials Snap Six-Week Losing Streak-From The Wall Street Journal 
The Dow industrials snapped a six-week losing streak, with investors pushing up shares as hopes intensified for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.84 points, or 0.4%, to 12004.36. That left the blue-chip index up 0.4% for the week, though it remains down 6.3% since notching a three-year closing high on April 29.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 3.86, or 0.3%, to 1271.50, with the financial, telecommunications and consumer-discretionary sectors leading the advancers. Energy stocks were laggards as crude-oil prices fell $1.94, or 2%, to $93.01 a barrel, a four-month low.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 7.22 points, or 0.28%, to 2616.48. That left the index down for nine of the last 11 sessions and extended its weekly losing streak to five, the longest since the six weeks ended July 11, 2008.

Friday's action came after France and Germany displayed unity in working toward a solution on a new aid package for debt-laden Greece. The Dow industrials rose as much as 111 points in early trading but pared that advance throughout the day.

3) IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis-From Reuters

The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.

The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies.

The Washington-based global lender forecast that U.S. gross domestic product would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012. In its forecast just two months ago, it had expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively.

Overall, the IMF slightly lowered its 2011 global growth forecast to 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent in April. Its forecast for 2012 growth remained unchanged at 4.5 percent.

The IMF said it was slightly more optimistic about the euro area's growth prospects this year, but a lack of political leadership in dealing with Europe's debt crisis and the wrangling over budget in the United States could create major financial volatility in coming months.

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