31.   It followed evidence yesterday of robust retail sales and state unemployment claims at an eight-year low.

32.   Last month, hurricanes in the Carolinas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands forced thousands out of work and added to the number of new unemployment claims.

33.   Meanwhile, unemployment claims and lending standards were up.

34.   More recently, hurricanes in the Carolinas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands forced thousands out of work and added to the number of new unemployment claims.

35.   New unemployment claims have fallen slightly.

36.   On Thursday reports are due on July capacity utilization and industrial production as well as the weekly count of first-time unemployment claims.

37.   Recent data on unemployment claims and factory production have offered tantalizing hints that the recession is almost over.

38.   Reports out today bolstered that view by showing more Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims and fewer managers expect to expand output.

39.   Several big retailers reported today that their sales growth tapered in June and the government said first-time unemployment claims rose more last week than economists predicted.

40.   She said the latest weekly number of Americans filing unemployment claims for the first time continued to show a soft labor market.