Stocks slide after unemployment claims jump

NEW YORK — Stocks slid Thursday after claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly for the first time in three weeks.

The Labor Department said Thursday that 412,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. Economists expected claims to fall.

Applications for benefits peaked at 659,000 during the recession and have dropped by roughly 6 percent in the past four months.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,312. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 15, or 0.1 percent, to 12,255. The Nasdaq composite fell 14, or 0.5 percent, to 2,747.

Financial stocks fell broadly. Goldman Sachs dropped 2.5 percent after Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that a panel he leads has found new evidence that shows Goldman misled investors. Levin also raised doubts about the testimony given last year by Goldman executives

Until recently, most investors assumed banks had put their troubles behind them, said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research. He pointed to JPMorgan Chase & Co., the first large bank to release earnings. The bank reported first-quarter results Wednesday that beat forecasts, but CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the company could still take more losses from mortgages.

"That's one of the better banks," Salamone said, "so it makes you wonder what's going to happen going forward."

Bank of America, the country's biggest bank and one of largest mortgage underwriters, reports earnings Friday morning.

Ford Motor Co. fell 2 percent. The car maker announced that it was expanding its recall of its F-150 pickup truck because of a problem with air bags. Ford's F-Series truck is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.

Among companies reporting earnings, toy maker Hasbro Inc. fell nearly 3 percent after reporting that its first-quarter profits slumped 71 percent. The results fell short of analysts' estimates.

Grocery chain Supervalu said quarterly profits and sales fell compared with a year ago. Analysts expected earnings to be worse. Supervalu rose 18 percent.

Data-storage company Iron Mountain rose 3 percent. Iron Mountain replaced its CEO after the hedge fund Elliott Management called for a strategic review of the business.

Rental car company Zipcar Inc. shot up 55 percent on its first day of trading.

Google Inc. will report earnings after the market closes.