A measure of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits over the past month has fallen to its lowest level in almost six years, signaling fewer layoffs.

US service firms expanded last month at the fastest pace since February, fueled by a jump in new orders and stronger business activity.

Federal Reserve officials in 2007 badly underestimated the scope of the approaching financial crisis and how it would tip the U.S. economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, transcripts of the Fed's policy meetings that year show.

U.S. service companies grew in June at the slowest pace in nearly two and a half years, a troubling sign for the economy.

The U.S. economy is growing too slowly to pull the job market out of a slump, according to the latest data that suggest June will be another weak month for hiring.