--- description: Dual economic indicators released Thursday offered some good news for the U.S. economy. title: The US Economy Grew More Than Previously Thought image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70316c3048fdb835/69868786e53aba545a4d1b3f/labor-secretary-thomas-perez.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Economic Outlook Just Got a Little Better  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 27, 2014 1:43 PM CUT  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](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 27, 2014 1:43 PM CUT The economy is [looking a bit sunnier](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-economic-growth-q4-revised-slightly "undefined"), 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](http://www.esa.doc.gov/economic-indicators/2014/03/ei-gross-domestic-product "undefined") 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](http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20140498.htm "undefined")—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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/40006/the-economic-outlook-just-got-a-little-better/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/40006/the-economic-outlook-just-got-a-little-better/"},"headline":"The Economic Outlook Just Got a Little Better","datePublished":"2014-03-27T13:43:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:00:01.632Z","description":"Higher than expected consumer spending meant the economy grew more than previously thought in the last three months of 2013","url":"https://time.com/40006/the-economic-outlook-just-got-a-little-better/","keywords":["Economy","GDP","Job market"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70316c3048fdb835/69868786e53aba545a4d1b3f/labor-secretary-thomas-perez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70316c3048fdb835/69868786e53aba545a4d1b3f/labor-secretary-thomas-perez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"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.","caption":"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.","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/40006/the-economic-outlook-just-got-a-little-better/","name":"The Economic Outlook Just Got a Little Better"}}]}] ```