A GOOD NEWS FOR U.S. ECONOMY?

The number of initial claims, for state unemployment benefits, last week in the U.S. has dropped below the 400-thousand mark, for the first time since early April. However, does it suggest a hopeful sign for the U.S. economy?

According to the Labor Department, the weekly applications fell to 398,000, which is the first time that the number fell below 400,000 in four months. The number was 375,000 in February, but it soon skyrocketed to 478,000 in April and has declined slowly since then.

Even though the number of people who filed for jobless benefits for the first time is getting fewer, it does not necessarily mean that the country's economy is growing.

Analysts have forecasted that the economy growth between the April and June is only 1.7%, and with fewer jobs in the job market, the unemployment rate remains high, at 9.2% in June.

Furthermore, the economy growth is also hampered by the decreasing orders of long-lasting manufactured goods in the manufacturing sector.

Some economists have expected orders to increase, as well as some economic growth in the second half of this year, considering that the gas prices have come down slightly and that the global supply chains disrupted by the Japan earthquake is recovering.

However, some people are concerned that the economy's weakness will persist, after the Fed's survey shows that the economic activity in June and early July is the weakest this year.

The Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan both predict that the economic growth for the second half of this year will be 2.5%, which suggests that the number of people applying for the unemployment benefits will still be huge, since the economy would need to grow 5% for a whole year to bring down the unemployment rate by one percentage point.

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