The U.S. Department of Labor released the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report, showing that the week ending June 4 reported 427,000 unemployment claims, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week.

After declining claims numbers throughout the winter and an increase in hiring, economic growth was anticipated to continue. But April brought a surge of unemployment applications at 478,000 in one week, and numbers have stayed above 400,000 since.

According to Bloomberg, Barclays Capital, Inc. adjusted its forecast for economic growth the rest of the year to 2.5 percent growth, down from their previous prediction of 3.1 percent.

And April showed 4.8 percent fewer job openings in April compared to March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover report this week.

The Commerce Department, however, said the U.S. trade deficit decreased to 6.7 percent in April, and U.S. exports rose 1.3 percent. This is good news for small businesses looking to spread their goods and services abroad.

While the dollar continues to weaken and keep the U.S. competitive in oversea markets, the trade deficit with China increased to $21.6 billion in April. This number is up nearly 20 percent, as China continues to keep its currency below the dollar, reports Reuters.

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