"Progress in the labor market is not quite as strong as people had hoped, but we are still on a recovery track here"
- Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc.
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined by 2,000 to 386,000 in the week ended April 14 from the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday.
"Progress in the labor market is not quite as strong as people had hoped, but we are still on a recovery track here," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In a separate report, the Bloomberg said its Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 31.4 in the period ended April 15 from minus 32.8 the previous week.
"The uneven nature of the recovery will likely continue to restrain the type of improvement in consumer sentiment that one would traditionally observe at this point in the expansionary cycle," said Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP in New York.
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