WASHINGTON (AP) — A private trade group said on Thursday that the manufacturing sector expanded in March at its strongest pace since July 2004, but the Commerce Department reported that construction spending fell in February to its lowest level since November 2002. þþIn addition, initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the recovering economy moved closer to generating more jobs. þþThe latest reports reflected the halting nature of the economic recovery. While manufacturing is expected to help lead a recovery, real estate remains a weak spot. þþThe Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said that its gauge of industrial companies rose to 59.6 in March, from 56.5 in February. It is the eighth consecutive month of expansion. þþEconomists polled by Thomson Reuters had expected the measure to read 57. A level above 50 indicates growth. þþFactories are increasing production for exports and their customers are slowing the drawdown of their inventories, helping power the economic recovery worldwide. þþAmong economists, the expectation is that continued expansion of factory production will eventually lead to more hiring. þþThe Labor Department is scheduled to release the March employment report on Friday. Economists expect that it will show that the economy generated 190,000 jobs last month, the most in three years. Analysts also forecast that the unemployment rate will remain 9.7 percent for the third consecutive month, according to Thomson Reuters. On Thursday, the agency said that new claims for jobless benefits dropped 6,000, to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, nearly matching analysts’ estimates. It is the fourth drop in five weeks. þþThe four-week average of claims, which smoothes volatility, fell nearly 7,000, to 447,250, the lowest total since the week of Sept. 13, 2008, just before Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis intensified. þþIn the third report on Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that spending on construction projects in February fell 1.3 percent, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $846.23 billion. Economists were predicting that builders would pare spending by 1 percent. þ
Source: NY Times
