WASHINGTON — The economy is having growing pains.
Discouraging new reports on unemployment and manufacturing Thursday reinforced worries that job losses and meager factory output will make for a weak recovery as the nation climbs out of the worst recession in decades.
“The economy is not moving quickly from recession to expansion. It is moving in a very halting way,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s . “Given the severity of the downturn, we are not going to come roaring back.”
First-time jobless claims rose more than expected last week to a seasonally adjusted 551,000, the Labor Department said. Economists viewed it as a sign that employers remain reluctant to hire.
Economists think the economy lost 180,000 more jobs in September. The unemployment rate is expected to climb from 9.7 percent to 9.8 when the government releases its monthly jobs report today.
And factories are struggling to mount a rebound. A gauge of manufacturing activity came in at 52.6 for September, the Institute for Supply Management said — enough to signal growth for the second straight month but still down from August.
There were some encouraging signals Thursday.
Construction spending rose 0.8 percent in August, including the biggest increase in housing activity in nearly 16 years. But spending for office buildings, hotels, shopping centers and government projects all declined.
Consumer spending rose a bigger-than-expected 1.3 percent in August, the best gain since October 2001, when the country was recovering from the 9/11 attacks.
