Thursday morning headlines*

Stocks slipping: Market still seems to be in pause mode. Dow is down 25 points.

Jobless claims little changed: Weekly filings for unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to 387,000 - still too high to see much job growth. That would require consistent readings under 375,000. (AP)

Go work at an Apple store: Hourly pay is being raised by as much as 25 percent. As it is, sales employees typically make $9 to $15 an hour and tech support staffers receive up to $30 an hour. From the WSJ:

Employees began learning of the raises in face-to-face meetings with managers last week, according to three Apple employees in various regions across the U.S. The raises, which are based on performance, will begin appearing in paychecks around the middle of July, two of these people said. Employees said they were appreciative of the move, though they considered the raises had been a long time coming. The increased wages, one person said, more accurately reflected Apple's position as a high-end retailer.

Another record low for mortgage rates: The benchmark 30-year fixed is 3.66 percent, down from 3.71 percent last week and the lowest level going back to the 1950s. (AP)

Gas prices keep plunging: An average gallon of regular in the L.A. area is $3.925, according to the Auto Club, down eight cents from a week ago and 44 cents from a month ago.

Nearing a budget deal: Gov. Brown and Democratic lawmakers are close to a compromise on state welfare-to-work cuts. The budget has already passed, but without spending provisions nailed down. From the Sacramento Bee:

Brown wants lawmakers to remake the state's welfare-to-work program, known as CalWORKs, by imposing more severe consequences for not finding work. Democrats are willing to accept some changes, but they say the governor's plan is too severe when work is scarce even for more qualified job applicants in California. "The typical CalWORKs recipient doesn't have a high school diploma," said Mike Herald, a lobbyist for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. "They're having to compete right now in a job market where even people with high school diplomas can't get hired."

Supreme Court throws out FCC policies on curse words: Narrow ruling in which the justices concluded that broadcasters could not have anticipated obscenities uttered during awards show programs. (AP)

*Update: Commerce Secretary John Bryson has resigned, telling President Obama that the seizure he suffered recently - and which resulted in separate traffic accidents - "could be a distraction." From the Washington Post:

Bryson's departure comes less than two weeks after he hit two vehicles near his California home, an episode that initially raised concerns that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but was later determined to be tied to a seizure. The incident caught the Commerce Department and White House off-guard and Bryson announced he would take a medical leave two days after the accidents. The legal case against Bryson is still unresolved. A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, which will decide whether to file charges, said Thursday that police had not yet turned over the results of their investigation into the crashes.