Economy, Labor Market | featured news

Americans turned less optimistic about the economy in early February on worries about falling income even as their outlook on the jobs market rose to a record high, a survey released on Friday showed.

Amid signs that the overall jobs climate was improving, manufacturing stands out as an area of surprising strength.

The ADP report showed private employers added 206,000 jobs this month, prompting economists to raise their forecasts for the U.S. labor report on Friday.

Economists see a vicious cycle: The economy won't improve until businesses hire, but many won't hire without consumer demand, which is weak because of the slack job market and concerns about the future. The roofing supply yard in Long Beach is rumbling with activity these days, thanks in part to a wet winter that has property owners eager to make repairs before fall.

The U.S. Postal Service would eliminate about 220,000 full-time jobs and shutter about 300 processing facilities by 2015 under a proposal to bring its finances in order, a postal official said on Friday.

Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in June, evidence that slower hiring is affecting many parts of the country.

The U.S. labor market could stay sluggish for a while, with small-business executives reluctant to hire amid the murky economic outlook, a Chamber of Commerce survey showed.

Consumer confidence fell in June to the lowest point since November 2010 on concerns about the slack labor market and sputtering recovery, according to a Conference Board report released on Tuesday.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, according to a report on Thursday that could reinforce fears the labor market recovery has stalled.

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks and evidence that the job market is still sluggish.