Thursday morning headlines

Stocks moving higher: Decent job news, disappointing GDP news, and an overall bias towards buying, not selling. Dow is up 25 points.

Jobless claims looking better: Weekly filings fell 4,000, to 364,000, their lowest level more than three and a half years - and an indicator of an improving jobs market. "When you fire fewer people, hiring unquestionably follows," said analyst Dan Greenhaus. (AP)

Californians could lose jobless aid: At stake are the unemployment benefits for 100,000 people who would stop receiving checks as of Jan. 1. Congress has been at an impasse over extending the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits. From the OC Register:

Those most immediately affected are the unemployed who are collecting so-called FedEd emergency benefits. Without an extension, the federal funds that finance that aid will end Jan. 1. EDD says that as it currently stands, the last payable week of FedEd benefits will most likely be the week ending Jan. 7, regardless of whether a claimant has more weeks remaining on their extension.

Break in payroll tax impasse?: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging House Republicans to approve the same two-month extension that the Senate passed by an 89-10 margin. (Business Insider)

Consumers are cheering up: The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's index on sentiment rose to 69.9 from 64.1 in November. That's the highest level in six months. (Reuters)

Growth revised downward: Third-quarter gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.8 percent, down from the earlier 2 percent estimate (and down from the initial 2.3 percent estimate before that). Fourth-quarter growth is expected to be stronger. (AP)

Worries about 2012: Recent gains could be masking economic trouble next year, especially during the first few months. From the NYT:

There are two reasons for the renewed pessimism. First, economists say that temporary trends increased growth in the fourth quarter and may not continue into next year. Second, the economy faces significant headwinds in 2012: some from Europe's long-lingering sovereign debt crisis, and some from domestic cutbacks beyond the control of President Obama, whose campaign would like to point to a brightening economic picture, not a darkening one. Even the Federal Reserve is predicting that the unemployment rate will remain around 8.6 percent by the time voters go to the polls in November.

LAX traffic unchanged from last year: About 2.9 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport from Dec. 17 through Jan. 3, the same volume as last year. Friday and the two days before New Year's Eve are expected to be the busiest days. (CNS)

Long Beach rejects hotel development: What would have been a high-end retail, hotel and residential complex was rejected by the City Council on a 5-3 vote. From the LAT:

It was the city's decades-old zoning plan, which imposes a height restriction of three stories on any new development, that doomed the project. "This is backwards," said Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, who voted against the project. "What I'm most concerned about is that we need to have a plan that's predictable for anyone who wants to do development here."