STILL A LEVEL THAT ANALYSTS SAY IS CONSISTENT WITH A HEALTHY JOB MARKET. THE FOUR-WEEK MOVING AVERAGE OF NEW CLAIMS, WHICH SMOOTHS WEEKLY VOLATILITY TO OFFER A BETTER PICTURE OF UNDERLYING LABOR MARKET TRENDS, FELL BY 6,000 LAST WEEK TO 305,500. TREASURY SECRETARY JOHN SNOW, IN A FINAL STATEMENT ON GROWTH BEFORE HE IS REPLACED BY HENRY PAULSON AT TREASURY, SAID THE GDP DATA UNDERLINED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TAX CUTS THAT SNOW HELPED SHEPHERD THROUGH CONGRESS IN 2003 AFTER HE TOOK ON THE TREASURY JOB. PAULSON WAS CONFIRMED BY THE U.S. SENATE ON WEDNESDAY AND IS EXPECTED TO TAKE OVER FROM SNOW NEXT WEEK. THE GDP DATA SHOWED CONSUMER SPENDING IN THE FIRST QUARTER ADVANCED AT A REVISED BUT STILL SIZZLING 5.1 PERCENT RATE RATHER THAN 5.2 PERCENT ESTIMATED A MONTH AGO, FAR AHEAD OF THE 0.9 PERCENT RATE RECORDED IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. THE DEPARTMENT SAID ITS MAIN REASON FOR REVISING FIRST-QUARTER GDP UPWARD WAS THAT IMPORTS WERE NOT AS STRONG AS IT PREVIOUSLY HAD CALCULATED. IMPORTS, WHICH ACT AS A DRAG ON OVERALL GDP, ROSE AT A 10.7 PERCENT ANNUAL RATE IN THE FIRST QUARTER RATHER THAN 12.8 PERCENT REPORTED EARLIER. CORPORATE PROFITS ALSO GREW MORE STRONGLY THAN THE GOVERNMENT PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT, RISING AT A 13.8 PERCENT ANNUAL RATE AFTER TAXES INSTEAD OF 8.8 PERCENT IT ESTIMATED A MONTH AGO. THAT MATCHED THE FOURTH QUARTER'S RATE OF PROFITS GROWTH, WHICH WAS THE HIGHEST RATE IN FOUR YEARS.
