Thursday morning headlines

Stocks are slipping: Coming back a bit after a weak start. Dow is down 18 points in early trading.

Big jump in jobless claims: The number of Americans filing reached 445,000, the largest one-week increase in six months. The four-week moving average stands at 416,500. (Reuters)

Rise in CA foreclosures: One out of 203 households in the state filed in December, a nearly 15 percent increase from the previous month, and an 18 percent drop from a year earlier, according to Realty Trac. (press release).

Council signs off on garage leasing plan: Local businesses are steamed, but it was either that or make more budget cuts. The plan is to select a company in March to take over parking operations at nine city garages. From the Daily News:

Leasing the garages for 50 years is expected to raise an immediate $53million - and up to $1 billion over time - and is supported by most city workers, who've been told to expect more layoffs and furloughs if the plan does not go ahead. But Councilman Bernard Parks, who chairs the city's Budget and Finance Committee, said the council's authorization Wednesday to begin negotiations to lease the garages would probably not result in any money until July, when next year's budget starts. The city is already expecting a deficit of $353 million in the next fiscal year.

State tax credits not being used: They were meant to spur small business hiring, but more than $360 million of them are collecting dust. From the LAT:

Tax officials were flummoxed by the low response, but small-business owners said the economy had been so poor that few were able to hire, even with the $3,000 that the credit would have provided. Others said they were unaware of the credit. Given the current climate of economic uncertainty, said Michael Shaw, California legislative director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a one-time tax break was not going to be enough to prompt businesses to take on the responsibilities of new employees.

Can online poker shrink the deficit?: Perhaps - new study says that the state could generate more than $1 billion over 10 years through the profits of online poker. An OC state senator is interested. (OC Register)

Will News Corp. spin off MySpace?: That's one of the options being considered for the Bev Hills-based social networking site. A sale is also being considered - the company is said to be talking to potential bidders. (Bloomberg)

Jack Kyser memorial: More than 300 people were at the Millennium Biltmore to honor the long-time economist for the Economic Development Corp. who died last month. (Press-Telegram)