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U.S.
Economy Show Growing Inventory But Slow-down Payrolls
In U.S., rising optimism about the overall health of the economy continues
to boost consumers' short-term outlook as consumer confidence shot
to an 18-month high, growing 5.1 points from the previous month to
96.8 in January, the highest since July 2002. According to the Commerce
Department, companies have been struggling to rebuild stockpiles to
match gains in sales. In December 2003, the inventory building added
0.61 percent point to fourth-quarter gross domestic product, which
expanded at a 4 percent annual rate, the largest since 0.8 percent
in December 2002. One of the larger rises was recorded by automobile
inventories, up 3.0 percent in the biggest monthly advance since December
1998's 3.5 percent gain. Wholesale sales of durable items increased
even faster, rising 1.4 percent in December, and inventories of nondurable
goods climbed 0.1 percent, led by |
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petroleum,
chemicals and groceries.
U.S. employment payrolls expand for a fifth straight month in January,
and U.S. companies added 112,000 jobs, the biggest monthly gain
in three years. And the unemployment rate dropped one tenth of a
percentage point to 5.6 percent. That is the lowest since 5.4 percent
in October 2001. Yet, the gain of 112,000 is still below the previous
estimate of 165,000 new jobs, which disappointed general hopes for
a more vigorous recovery. Since March 2001, the nation had suffered
from the lost of about 2.35 million jobs, the longest stretch of
labor market weakness since World War II.
A survey on CEOs shows U.S. most companies have stopped firing and
are getting ready to hire, which means the worst of the job-cutting
has ended, and possibly hiring is right around the corner. The somewhat
slower job growth may delay Feb's move towards tightening, as typically,
central bankers would like to see much stronger job growth for several
months before they're convinced the economy is strong enough to
withstand a rate hike.
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