from Reuters:
Data on Thursday underscored that economic recovery in the United States will be a long, slow slog, with a key manufacturing indicator showing only marginally less weakness and an outlook for rising unemployment even when growth resumes.
The new reports came a day after the Federal Reserve, in minutes released from its April policy meeting, cuts its outlook for economic growth over the next three years and said a full recovery could take five or six years.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday reported that its closely watched indicator of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region was marginally less weak in May, while an index of leading economic indicators for April managed its first increase in almost a year.
The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims last week fell for the third time in four weeks. But the labor market outlook remained cloudy, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that the unemployment rate could rise even when economic growth resumes.
"The Philly Fed data was definitely on the disappointing side of expectations," said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut. "The numbers are consistent with only a tepid global recovery as factories switch on the lights again."
