654 Miles of Bargain Hunting This Weekend; Best Bargain at Tax-Free Holidays
COLLINS: All right. We want to get this information now to you right away as we are getting it confirmed right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We have been able to let you know that Florida Senator Mel Martinez, a Republican in Florida, is resigning his Senate seat and then the governor, Charlie Crist, of course, can appoint his successor. Christ is also running for his seat. So, once again, that information coming in to us from our Rick Debela here at CNN that Senator Mel Martinez has actually resigned his seat. I'm just reading off of our news wire right here. So bear with me. Earlier this year, you may remember that Martinez had actually said he would not run for re-election in 2010, but under Florida law, as I've just said, the Republican governor there Charlie Crisp is going to get a successor until the next general election, of course. So there you go. New information coming in to us about Mel Martinez, out of Florida today. A snapshot of the economy. Earlier this morning we learned the unemployment rate has fallen for the first time in 15 months. The many experts say it's a sign the recession may be finally winding down. And just minutes ago, President Obama signed into law that $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers program. Car sales have boomed as Americans cash in old gas guzzlers for a federal rebate as much as $4,500. President Obama due to talk about the economy a little bit later today. His comments scheduled for 1:30 Eastern now. That's 1:30 Eastern. We're going to carry those remarks live just as soon as they happen. For more on the jobs report, though, let's go straight to Wall Street now. Felicia Taylor is standing by at the New York Stock Exchange with some details and also the reaction from the stock market to this. We are up, Felicia, by about 90 points or so on the big board there.</s>FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's great news Heidi. It's a great way to begin the weekend. Wall Street is definitely cheering this job's report. It is the most important economic report we can get. It shows that 247,000 people lost jobs in July. Now I know that sounds like a big number, but the truth is, we're seeing the pace of layoffs slow dramatically. January job losses topped 700,000. So you can see, literally, how much the job losses have begun to dwindle down. That is clearly good news for the economy and for the American people. It has been steadily falling. July has the fewest losses in nearly a year and it shows the economy is definitely moving in the right direction. We have some buying on Wall Street, the Dow industrials now better buy about 92 points -- that's about 1 percent gain on the day. The NASDAQ composite is up about four-fifths of one percent as is the S&P.; Heidi?</s>COLLINS: I wonder, though, some of the sectors in jobs, though, are, of course, still having trouble. Not everything -- just keeping it in context here -- not everything is to the positive, right?</s>TAYLOR: You're absolutely right. No question about that. The same areas continue to lose jobs. No surprise there, but the key is that the cuts are getting smaller, and this is what we want to continue to see, obviously. We still have losses in manufacturing and construction and professional services, but there are some other encouraging signs. The average workweek edged back up to more than 33 hours in July. That's after hitting a record low in June. So, if employers can't actually actively hire more people, at least they can boost the hours actually worked. So, that's good news because, obviously, per hour, you're making more money. So, there's some reasons to be encouraged by the numbers. We obviously still have a long way to go before we're actually out of the recession woods.</s>COLLINS: Yes, 14.5 million people still out of work, as we can see. Felicia Taylor, we appreciate that. But we're watching those numbers. Thank you. If you plan to hit the stores for some back-to-school shopping this is the weekend to save on sales tax in several states. Jeannie Yermen (ph) has our breakdown now from New York. Hi, how are you?</s>JEANNIE YERMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm great, Heidi, how are you? I tell you, more than a dozen states that are offering tax-free holidays this month on clothing and school supplies. Ten of those will occur this weekend. Today and tomorrow in Iowa and Louisiana, the other eight states include today, tomorrow and Sunday, as well. Now, how much you'll save depends on the state. In Virginia, you don't have to pay sales tax on individual clothing items costing less than $100 or school supplies less than $20. In Louisiana, you can pretty much buy anything under $2,500 and avoid the state sales tax. Now -- so, not too shabby. Six of these states also have sales tax exemptions on computers. So, if you're in the market for a new PC or laptop, this could be the weekend to buy. Heidi?</s>COLLINS: I didn't know about that, last weekend it was tax-free weekend down here. I didn't know you had to spend $100 or less in order to get it. So, it's good to read the fine print so you sort of know what you're getting before you go to the store. Meanwhile, consumers love this, this tax free holiday report. But kind of a mixed blessing for the states, right?</s>YERMEN: Without a doubt. States are losing out on a huge chunk of tax revenue, and with budgets already so strapped, a lot of places are actually rethinking whether or not to offer these temporary tax breaks. Florida, Massachusetts and Maryland decided against August tax-free weekends this year. Washington, D.C., was supposed to have one this weekend but it pulled the plug just last week. D.C. said it would have cost the city $640,000 in revenue, a loss it simply can't afford when it's struggling with a deficit of more than $660 million. Heidi, a lot of D.C. residents will head across the river to Virginia for tax-free holiday there this weekend. So, it could really back fire on the city.</s>COLLINS: All right, well, we appreciate that. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Fascinating to story to tell you about. The Manson murders captured the nation's attention 40 years ago, and the lure may still be just as strong today.