The Economic Outlook Just Got a Little Better

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Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti laugh with an employee helping Perez make a milkshake as he toured a Shake Shack restaurant in Washington on March 21, 2014 to promote raising the federal minimum wage.
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti laugh with an employee helping Perez make a milkshake as he toured a Shake Shack restaurant in Washington on March 21, 2014 to promote raising the federal minimum wage.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images
By Noah Rayman

The economy is looking a bit sunnier, and just in time for spring.

Dual economic indicators released Thursday offered some good news for the U.S. economy coming out of this year’s harsh winter. The Commerce Department said the economy grew by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, more than previously thought, as consumer spending beat previous estimates. In all of 2013, the economy grew 1.9 percent.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Labor said applications for unemployment benefits—a key indicator of the U.S. job environment—fell last week to a near-four-month low. Jobless claims fell 10,000 to 311,000 in the week ending March 22, while economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a slight uptick.

 

 

 

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Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com