Three Economic Indicators Provide Positive Outlook

Drops in business inventories and jobless claims, along with a small rise in import prices, offered new evidence Thursday that the U.S. may be pulling out of recession, news services reported.

Lower inventories may trigger an increase in new factory orders, which would boost demand for trucking services.

Business inventories slipped 0.4% to $1.135 trillion in December – the index’s 11th consecutive decline, the Commerce Department said, putting inventories at the lowest level in two years.

nalysts credited increased spending, especially at discount retailers, for the falling inventory levels, Bloomberg reported.

Initial jobless claims slipped 8,000 to 373,000 for the week ended Feb. 8, the Labor Department, continuing a decline suggesting that the job market may be preparing for an improvement, news services said.

The level of initial jobless claims has remained below 400,000 since the beginning of 2002 – the longest such stretch since March-April 2001.

The four-week moving average, a measure of initial claims that removes week-to-week volatility, dropped to 376,000 – its lowest point since August 2000, Labor said.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11 compounded the country’s economic slide, the job market has been weak, as many companies have cut costs by trimming jobs.

Labor also said that import prices rose by 0.4% in January. However, if the cost of imported oil are omitted, import prices only rose 0.1%.

The rise was the first increase in import prices since May, but analysts felt the gain was not large enough to indicate significant inflationary pressure, Bloomberg reported.

Export prices were unchanged, the Labor Department said.