WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week and factory activity in March hit its highest level in more than 5-1/2 years, pointing to a continued expansion in the economy.
The data on Thursday came a day before the release of the government's closely watched employment report for March, which is expected to show nonfarm payrolls grew only for the second time since the recession started in December 2007.
The labor market has lagged the manufacturing-led economic recovery from theworst downturn since the 1930s. Job growth is key to sustaining that recovery when the impetus from rebuilding of inventories disappears later this year.
"This is unmitigated good news for the manufacturing sector, which is good news for the progress of the general recovery," Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics in New York, said of the sturdy manufacturing report
