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Economic Indexes Improve

Unemployment plunged last month to the lowest level since September 2008 as companies raise spending to meet demand, the State Statistics Service said Tuesday.

The jobless rate dropped to 6.4 percent from 7.2 percent in April. Fixed-capital investment surged 7.4 percent from a year earlier, the most this year.

Inventory rebuilding and low borrowing costs are stoking capital spending as companies benefit from growing demand amid a labor-market rebound. Retail sales grew 5.5 percent from a year earlier last month. Real wages gained 2.6 percent from a year earlier even as real disposable incomes shrank 7 percent.

(Bloomberg)

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