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"U.S. consumers were decidedly more confident in May," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. She attributed the gain to "steady job growth, record high equity markets and rising home values." The unemployment has fallen to a four-year low of 7.5 percent. Some of the decrease is because many people have given up looking for work. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for a job. The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the January-March quarter, up from a rate of just 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter. The fastest expansion in consumer spending in more than two years drove economic growth in the first quarter. Many economists expect growth is slowing slightly in the current April-June quarter to a rate of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. But there is hope among some economists that growth will strengthen in the second half of this year, boosted by the gains in housing and employment.
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