91ÊÓƵ

Consumer confidence increased last week to an almost eight-year high as Americans viewed the U.S. economy in a more favorable light and said it was better time to spend.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks than at any time in almost 15 years, signaling underlying strength in the labor market even as hiring cooled last month.

Service industries grew in March at about the same pace as a month earlier, indicating the biggest part of the U.S. economy is holding up.

The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank in February to the lowest level in more than five years as a labor dispute at West Coast ports contributed to the weakest reading on purchases from abroad since 2011.

The fewest Americans in nine weeks filed applications for unemployment benefits, a sign of further strength in the labor market that will continue to support the U.S. expansion.

The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators, a measure of the outlook for the next three to six months, rose 0.2% in February for a second month, the New York-based group said March 19.

U.S. manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace in a year in February as weaker growth abroad limited orders for American-made products, the Institute for Supply Management reported.

West Coast dockworkers and their employers reached a five-year contract deal Feb. 20, averting a shutdown of 29 ports that could have cost the U.S. economy $2 billion a day, Labor Secretary Tom Perez said.

West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo over the holiday weekend reopened Feb. 17.