- Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the week ended Feb.27, the Labor Department said. Economists had forecast claims slipping to 271,000 in the latest week.
Claims have now been below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with healthy labor market conditions, for a year. That is the longest period since the early 1970s. The four-week moving average of claims, seen as a bettermeasure of labor market trends, fell to the lowest level since late November - indicating no stress in the jobs market despite financial market conditions having tightened after fears of recession sparked a global stock market sell-off.
- New orders for U.S. factory goods increased by the most in seven months in January, in another hopeful sign for the troubled manufacturing sector.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday new orders for manufactured goods rebounded 1.6 per cent after an unrevised 2.9 per cent drop in December. That was the largest increase since June and followed two straight months of declines.
- The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.
The labor market optimism was, however, dimmed somewhat by a survey on Thursday showing employment in the services industries fell in February for the first time in two years, even as the overall sector continued to expand.
But economists cautioned against reading too much into the drop, noting that past declines had not translated into overall labor market weakness.
"At first glance that is a concern ... but we've seen this happen with the employment index before. There are also no other signs that service sector hiring is slowing," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.
- Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan called on the U.S. central bank to be patient when it comes to raising interest rates, citing the effect of tighter financial conditions on U.S. economic growth.
- U.S. crude futures rose in early Asian trade on Friday, buoyed by renewed optimism prices may have bottomed out after official data showed U.S. oil production fell to its lowest level since November 2014.
U.S. crude futures had climbed 11 cents to $34.68 a barrel by 0019 GMT, after settling down 9 cents in the previous session.
Oil prices are stable with the decline in U.S. production providing support, ANZ said in a note on Friday.
Reference: The Globeandmail, Reuters, Bloomberg
Thai
Eng