RDQ Economics
Lowest jobless claims since spring 2008Posted by RJ and Makay on Apr 05, 2012 |
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The Labor Department report today showed that jobless claims fell to a new four-year low. First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week by 6,000 to a seasonably adjusted 357,000, the lowest numbers since April 2008 and cause for optimism heading into tomorrow’s Bureau of Labor Statistics employment situation report for March.
First-quarter economic growth sluggish at 1.8 percentPosted by RJ and Makay on Apr 28, 2011 |
The U.S economy slowed in the first quarter, though economists remain hopeful that the setback is temporary. The Commerce Department announced Thursday that total output grew at 1.8 percent last quarter, after expanding at an annual rate of of 3.1 percent at the end of 2010. Most economists had pegged Q1 2011 growth at 2.0 percent.
A widening trade deficit, larger decreases in federal spending, and higher commodity prices all contributed to the to the lackluster growth.
William James (American Philosopher and Psychologist, leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism, 1842-1910)
