Thursday, April 5, 2012

There's a promising sign, ahead of tomorrow's report on unemployment for March.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits fell last week by 6,000 to a four-year low.

Economists believe employers added 210,000 jobs last month, though they think tomorrow's report will show the unemployment rate
holding steady at 8.3 percent.

From December through February, employers added an average of 245,000 jobs a month, as the unemployment rate fell from 9.1 percent.

Analyst John Ryding of RDQ Economics is telling clients that the economy appears to have "entered a more self-sustaining phase of
the recovery, with strong job creation."

As the job numbers get better, consumers are growing more confident in the economy and are stepping up spending. Many large retail chains are reporting healthy sales for March.