The productivity of U.S. workers rose more than projected in the third quarter, helping to contain labor costs even as employment picks up.

Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign persistent demand is fueling gains in the labor market.

Service industries in the U.S. sustained a faster pace of expansion in October than in the first half of the year, indicating the world’s largest economy is overcoming a global slowdown.

The trade deficit in the U.S. widened in September as exports cooled from a record, highlighting how weakening global growth will affect the world’s largest economy.

U.S. manufacturing activity rose in October, matching August as the highest level since March 2011, the Institute for Supply Management reported Nov. 3.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to make New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport more passenger-friendly by cutting out most cargo facilities risks backfiring, a shipping-industry group and analysts say.

Consumer confidence rose in October to a seven-year high as employment opportunities and declining gasoline prices boosted Americans’ spirits.

Consumer spending in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in September as incomes rose at the slowest pace of the year, indicating the economy will have difficulty sustaining a pickup in growth into the end of the year.

The economy in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in the third quarter, capping its strongest six months in more than a decade, as gains in government spending and a shrinking trade deficit made up for a slowdown in household purchases.

Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits over the past month than at any time in more than 14 years, a sign the strengthening U.S. economy is buoying the labor market.