term interest rates to keep prices in check and sustain expansion. The latest GDP data buttressed Fed policy-makers' estimate that any economic "soft patch" in the early part of the year might be misleading. In minutes from its May 3 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which were released earlier this week and implied interest rates will keep rising, the Fed said a slowdown in growth likely would be "transitory." Economist Ken Mayland of ClearView Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio, noted the quarterly GDP performance extended a string of solid quarters. "This is the eighth quarter of above average economic growth -- and that's a pretty good track record," Mayland said, adding there seemed "no question but that the Fed is going to continue lifting the fed funds rate" in a bid to keep expansion on track and free of overheating. Separately, the Labor Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits edged up 1,000 last week to 323,000 -- just short of analysts' expectations for 325,000 applicants. The more closely watched four-week moving average, which is designed to smooth out weekly fluctuations, similarly gained to 330,500 from 330,000 during the prior week. --More 0045 Local Time 2145 GMT
