NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were mixed in midmorning trading Thursday after the U.S. government said jobless claims had increased on the week.

The U.S. Labor Department said initial unemployment claims grew by 6,000 in the week ending May 10, indicating continued problems in the economy's bottom line.

After posting gains Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.04 percent Thursday morning, down 5.13 points to 12,893.25. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 0.09 percent -- 1.22 points -- to 1,409.88. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.23 percent. 5.77 points, to 2,502.47.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 5/32 to yield 3.902 percent.

The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.5488 from Wednesday's $1.5461 and the dollar traded at 104.66 yen from Tuesday's 105.10 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose 0.94 percent or 133.19 points to 14,251.74.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Unemployment among U.S. Hispanics has risen faster than other groups, underscoring their vulnerability in the U.S. economy, analysts said.

Home ownership had risen to 50 percent among Hispanics before the mortgage credit crisis began to unfold last summer, USA Today reported Thursday.

A deteriorating home equity market, rising foreclosures and Hispanic workers' dependence on construction jobs has decreased remittances sent to families in Latin America, the report said.

Unemployment among Hispanics has risen from 5.5 percent in April 2007 to 6.9 percent this year -- a faster rise than among African-Americans, whose unemployment rate is 8.6 percent.

The rate for Hispanics is apt to be less accurate, however, due to the number of immigrants who don't get counted.

The unemployment rate for whites in April was 4.4 percent, the report said.

Regular payments sent to families in Latin American have decreased from 73 percent in 2006 to 50 percent in 2008, the Inter-American Development Banks said.

The lower remittance rate means Hispanic poverty, more than with other groups, has a tendency to travel across borders, the report said.

CAIRO, May 15 (UPI) -- Economic growth in Egypt has spurred foreign investment but done little for the country's working class, economic analysts said Thursday.

With economic growth at an annual rate of 7 percent, Egypt has seen foreign investments jump from $450 million in 2003 to more than $10 billion in 2007, USA Today reported.

But the government's renewed focus on capital markets hasn't kept inflation at bay and unemployment, while in decline, remains at 9 percent, the report said.

Two or three years ago, this place would be packed and they'd have to line up to get a table, Gomaa Ali, a restaurant owner facing a day of depressed sales, told USA Today.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's government is reluctant to do more, economist at the Institute of International Finance George Abed said. They're not in a mood to be challenging the street.

While a majority of the Egypt's 80 million people struggle, the country has gained strength in the international business community, jumping ahead of 26 countries in 2007 in the World Bank's annual business-friendly survey, the report said.

Egypt, however, ranks 105 out of 179 countries in a Transparency International survey measuring executive's opinions on local corruption, the report said.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- The United Way of America announced 10-year goals and said that the United States was at a crossroads regarding social initiatives.

The country is at a crossroads right now, United Way President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Gallagher told The Washington Post.

The agency, which raises $4 billion per year for various charities, announced goals to cut the rates of the country's high school dropouts and financially struggling families while increasing the percentage of citizens considered healthy.

Gallagher said social initiatives in the country had stalled. He also said the years of giving hadn't done enough to change the country's social problems.

He said the new initiative includes measuring progress on goals.

The thing that is either really stupid or really courageous is we're going to hold ourselves accountable to these national metrics, Gallagher said.