"The labor market is still improving at a modest pace"
- Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc.
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined to 359 thousand in the week ended March 24 from the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday.
"The labor market is still improving at a modest pace," said Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Detroit. "Across almost all sectors, companies have shed as many workers as they possibly can. Now, they're responding to the modest improvements in demand."
Also Thursday, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew three per cent in the last quarter of 2011, the same as previously estimated.
"Businesses are going to remain very cautious about hiring permanent staff and investing in new equipment," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. "It probably raises a caution flag that growth has not ratcheted up as many people hoped it had."
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