The four-week moving average was 234,250, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since April 14, 1973 when it was 232,750.

U.S. personal income increased 63 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, in January, beating market consensus of 0.3 percent, said the Commerce Department. Personal income increased 3.6 percent in 2016, compared with an increase of 4.4 percent in 2015.

U.S. manufacturing activity in February accelerated to the fastest pace since August 2017, a sign of growing momentum for the economy.

The manufacturing index, also known as the purchasing managers index (PMI), registered 57.7 in February, an increase of 1.7 points from the previous month, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in a report on Wednesday.

U.S. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, missing market consensus of 2.1 percent, according to the second estimate released by the Commerce Department. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.5 percent.

Real GDP increased 1.6 percent in 2016, unchanged from the first estimate a month ago.

In a separate report, the department announced that the international trade deficit was 69.2 billion U.S. dollars in January, up from 64.4 billion dollars in December.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index came in at 114.8 in February, up from 111.6 in January.

【国际英语资讯:U.S. stocks rally amid Trumps speech, rate hike concern】相关文章：

★ 声誉是银行的“硬通货”

★ SAC资本面临民事欺诈指控

★ 漫画英语之节后综合症

★ 英国全民打赌：谁为准王妃凯特做嫁衣

★ 教育成本高昂拖累韩国经济发展

★ 美国流行文化垄断面临挑战

★ 巴黎春天收购香港麒麟珠宝

★ 清明节扫墓英语作文

★ 美国政府暂停与英国石油公司签订新合同

★ 科技资讯阅读：iPad3和iPhone5将面世（中英对照）