The US economy continued to contract in the first quarter of this year, but at a slower pace than previously thought, official figures showed on Thursday.
Separately, the labour department said that new claims for unemployment benefits grew more than expected last week, offering a stark reminder that even as the economy turns around the stricken labour market could be slow to follow.
Revised commerce department figures revealed that US gross domestic product declined by an annualised rate of 5.5 per cent in the first three months of the year. That was better than economists expected and a smaller contraction than the original estimate of a 6.1 per cent contraction and last month's estimate of a 5.7 per cent decline.