"It's hard to get nervous that imports are rising"
- Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc.
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits fell to 367,000 in the week ended May 5 from 368,000 the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday.
"It looks like the [jobless claims] numbers are reverting to the declining trend that got interrupted briefly," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
U.S. trade balance widened by more than expected to 51.8 billion dollars in March from 45.4 billion dollars in February, said the Commerce Department on Thursday.
"It's hard to get nervous that imports are rising," said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. "It does suggest that consumer demand is strong."
Maki also said exports "don't suggest the slowdown in Europe is having a dramatic effect on growth" in the U.S.
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