"The manufacturing sector seems to be growing, but not particularly strongly"
- David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc
A series of mixed economic reports from the U.S. was published on Thursday, showing a stronger-than-expected demand for durable goods, as well as weakness in the labour market. Hence, report from the Commerce Department showed that bookings for goods, which meant to last more than three years, surged 4.2% in June, boosted by transportation equipment, after revised 5.2% gain in the preceding month. Analysts, however, expected a more modest gain of just 1.4%. Most of the gains occurred because of increased aircraft orders, which despite being highly volatile rocketed 31.4%. At the same time, core durable goods, which exclude transportation and defence orders, increased 0.7% in June, the fourth straight month of gains.
Figures from the Labor Department showed that the number of initial jobless claims increased by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 343,000 in the week ended July 20. The majority of economists, however, expected a figure of 340,000. The less-volatile four-week moving average turned lower, falling to 345,250 from the last week's revised average of 346,500. As the firing slowed down, it should lay the groundwork for a pickup in hiring, as the effects of sequester wane.
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