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Weekly jobless claims fall

The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week for the first time in five weeks. But the drop suggests only modest job growth after three months of weak hiring. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for weekly benefits dropped by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000. That's down from an upwardly revised 389,000 the previous week. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, rose by 1,750 to 377,500, the highest level in a month. Applications are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When claims dip below 375,000, it typically suggests hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate. The government last week reported that employers added just 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in April.

U.S. household wealth rises

A burst of stock gains and the first rise in home values in six years helped Americans regain more of their wealth in the January-March quarter. But since then, that effort has hit another bump. Stock prices sank in May on fears about Europe's debt crisis and a weaker U.S. economy. That eroded the first quarter's gains. Household net worth rose 4.7 percent to $62.9 trillion last quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thursday. The main reason was a 12 percent jump in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which padded the wealth of Americans who own stocks. Household wealth, or net worth, is the value of assets like homes, bank accounts and stocks, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. It bottomed during the Great Recession at roughly $49 trillion.

Best Buy boss quits board

The founder and outgoing chairman of Best Buy resigned from the board Thursday and said he may sell off his 20.1 percent stake in the beleaguered electronic retailer. It's the latest news to hit the Minneapolis company facing increasing competition from online retailers and a chief executive scandal, and it removes one obstacle for a possible private equity takeover of the company. Richard Schulze, 71, has been with the company since its inception in 1966 and is its largest shareholder. He announced in May that he would step down after an investigation found he knew that the then-CEO was having an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer.

Consumer borrowing grows slowly

U.S. consumer borrowing increased more slowly in April, restrained by a sharp reduction in credit card debt. The report suggests Americans may be resisting their credit cards after seeing employers pull back on hiring this spring. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that consumers increased borrowing by $6.5 billion in April. That's just half the March gain. The increase was driven by a $9.96 billion rise in a category that measures auto and student loans. That offset a $3.4 billion drop in credit card debt. Total borrowing rose to a seasonally adjusted $2.55 trillion. That was slightly below the all-time high of $2.58 trillion reached in July 2008.

Virgin Mobile to sell iPhone

Virgin Mobile USA, one of Sprint's brands for prepaid, no-contract phone service, said Thursday it will start selling the iPhone on June 29, charging $549 for a basic model. The high price of the phone comes with an upside: Service will start at $30 per month. That means the phone, plus two years of service, will cost $1,269, excluding taxes. That's nearly $800 less than a subscriber would pay for the same phone, an iPhone 4 with 8 gigabytes of memory, if buying it under the Sprint Nextel Corp. brand. Sprint charges $100 for the phone and $80 per month for service, excluding taxes. The iPhone has until recently been restricted to contract-based plans. Now, the floodgates appear open for the phone to enter the prepaid, no-contract market. -- AP