US Jobless Claims Near 4-Year Low; GDP Unrevised
The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in nearly four years in the latest week, though an unrevised growth estimate for the final quarter of 2011 raised concerns about the momentum for the recovery.
Initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000 in the week ended March 24—a level not seen since April 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The jobless figures indicate the labor market continues to heal as the first quarter draws to a close, even as a disappointing fourth-quarter report on the overall economy highlighted the risk that the recovery has lost some momentum.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of all the goods and services produced in an economy, grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate, of 3.0% last quarter, according to the Commerce Department’s final estimate.
Terrible news for the “Obama the Socialist Muslim Kenyan is Destroying the Economy” crowd. I.e., the GOP primary candidates. And as to the “disappointing” Q4 report, the Financial Times has a slightly different take:
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The US grew at an annualised rate of 4.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to an alternative measure of output, suggesting the world’s largest economy may be healthier than previously thought.
If economic trends persist, even at a slightly reduced rate, it will be almost useless for the GOP candidate to campaign on economic issues come November. The TP/GOP core doesn’t need any convincing, and the less nutty and independent voters will observe the gap between GOP talking points and economic reality. I suppose they can always shift the campaign focus to banning abortions and hoodies.