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Monday, June 25, 2012

Manufacturing Growth Slows, Labor Market Struggling

WASHINGTON – US manufacturing grew in June at its slowest pace in 11 months and the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell slightly last week, pointing to an economy mired in a soft patch.

The weakening economic tone was also underscored by other reports on Thursday showing a gauge of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region tumbled to a 10-month low in June and a pullback in home resales in May.

The data came one day after the Federal Reserve eased monetary policy further by extending a program to re-weight securities it holds toward longer maturities to hold down borrowing costs and signaled it was ready to do more to help the flagging recovery.

“We’ve seen a pretty steady diet of lower-than-expected data points, pointing to a continued slowdown, and that has not changed,” said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners in Chicago.

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