Resources Connection Inc. News Release (04/02/14)

Resources Connection Inc. reported revenue of $132.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2014, down 3.8% (3.4% on a constant dollar basis) from $138 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income was $2.3 million for the period, down 49.0% from $4.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. The company’s U.S. revenue was down 2.4% year-to-year, due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday occurring later in 2013 than it did in 2012 as well as to severe winter weather.

Bloomberg (04/03/14) Lorraine Woellert

Jobless claims rose 16,000 to 326,000 in the week ended March 29, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast 319,000 claims. The four-week moving average of claims rose just slightly to 319,500 from 319,250 the prior week.

Bloomberg (04/02/14) Rich Miller; Michelle Jamrisko

Only two of the nine indicators on Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen’s labor-market dashboard—payroll growth and layoffs—have returned to prerecession levels, but joblessness, underemployment, labor force participation, and the other four indicators have yet to return to their 2004-07 averages. This reinforces Yellen’s belief that the central bank still needs to provide “extraordinary support” to the economy for “some time to come.”

Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist for Barclays PLC, says long-term joblessness is likely the most controversial indicator on the dashboard because it may exaggerate the amount of excess manpower in the labor market. Because the long-term unemployed become less active in seeking a job and employers deem them less suitable for hiring, Maki says wages could increase as the labor market improves, regardless of the high long-term unemployment rate. Other economists believe the labor force participation rate could give the Fed an inflated view of the number of potential workers available, because they believe retirements make up a bulk of labor force exits.