US Jobs Data Rebounds

The US Government said the number of Americans who filed for jobless benefits last week fell by 27,000 to 365,000. Despite the good news, economist Nouriel Roubini warned that the US economy could fall into stagnation in 2013.

Speaking at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., Roubini noted that real wages for U.S. workers are not growing and that America’s crushing debt is strangling growth.

That translates into possible fiscal decay in which GDP will be “lucky” to grow 2% this year and faces the prospect of retreating into near-zero growth next year, according to Roubini.

Meanwhile, after good March results, which benefitted from an early Easter, retailers said April results didn’t measure up. For example, Macy’s Inc. fell short of the 1.9% gain expected with a 1.2% advance. However, the comp gain for the combined March-April period was 4.4%, within the company’s guidance for the two months.

Gap Inc.’s comparable-store sales declined 2%, which was larger than analysts expected.

The good news came from Limited Brands Inc., which was expected to be up 4%, instead was up 6% as Victoria’s Secret continued to set the pace in specialty retailing with an 8% comp gain for the month.

The early celebration of the holiday benefited March results but made for an uphill climb last month. “We expected April to be challenging given the negative impact of the Easter calendar shift and the timing shift of our Mother’s Day event to May this year from April last year,” said Michael Glazer, president and chief executive officer of Stage Stores Inc. in Houston, whose firm posted a 1% decline in same-store sales, better than analysts expected.