The U. S. Commerce Department reported solid economic growth in the first quarter of 2004, increasing at an annual rate of 4.2 percent. Consumer, business and defense spending contributed to the growth, which was a slight improvement over the end of last year. (The Denver Post, April 30, 2004).
The Labor Deparment reported that the economy grew by 308,000 jobs in March, the fastest rate of job creation since April of 2000. Outdoing forecasts, growth included strong gains in construction, retail and business services. (The Denver Post, April 3, 2004). Two weeks later, new claims for unemployment jumped by 30,000, the largest increase in 16 months. (The Denver Post, April 16, 2004).
The stock market's year long rally continued in a stall during the month of April. Mid-month, Wall Street began to fear that the Federal Reserve might hike interest rates, and the indexes lost ground through the rest of the month. (The Denver Post, April 21, 2004). A combination of those fears and others related to terrorism pushed the market lower at the end of the month.
Regional News
Colorado's top performing stocks and mutual funds in the first quarter included ACT Teleconferencing and Titanium Metals Corp. (stocks) and Janus Overseas and Invesco Energy (mutual funds). The Denver Post, April 1, 2004.
