WASHINGTON - The economic rebound last quarter turned out to be slower than first thought, one of the reasons unemployment is likely to stay stubbornly high this year. However, jobless claims dropped another 460,000 last week.
The government says the economy grew at a 3 percent annual rate from January to March as consumers and businesses spent slightly less. That was weaker than an initial estimate of 3.2 percent growth. The new reading, based on more complete information, also fell short of economists' forecast for stronger growth of 3.4 percent.
The economy grew at a 5.6 percent in the final quarter of last year.
FIRST-TIME JOBLESS CLAIMS
The number of newly laid off workers filings claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week but the level still remained higher than expected, indicating only modest improvements in the job market.
Applications for unemployment befits fell by 14,000 to 460,000 last week.
Economists had expected the level would fall further to 455,000. The decline came after claims had risen by a revised 28,000 in the previous week, the largest gain in three months.
The latest level of claims is slightly higher than it was at the start of the year, underscoring that the nation's workers are still facing tough times even though the overall economy is growing again after enduring the worst recession since the 1930s.
Wednesday
October 9th, 2024
8:23AM
