US economy continues to contract

The report, used to set US interest rates, said "overall economic activity contracted further or remained weak".
But a number of districts had noted a "moderation in the pace of decline", while others were "stabilising".
The report comes a day after President Barack Obama and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession was easing.
The Beige Book is compiled eight times a year and is based on reports and comments from businesses across the US.
The last report was released at the beginning of March.
'Slight improvement'
Despite some signs of improvement, this report painted a bleak picture of current US economic activity
"Manufacturing activity weakened across a broad range of industries in most districts, with only a few exceptions," it said.
"Non financial service activity continue to contract across districts," it added.
The report also said that retail spending remained slow, but did comment that "some districts noted a slight improvement in sales compared with the previous reporting period".
The property market also continued to suffer, but there were signs that interest from buyers was returning.
"Home prices and construction were still falling in most areas, but better-than-expected buyer traffic led to scattered pick-up in sales in a number of districts," the report said.
Downward pressure on prices was also reported.
Indeed, official figures from the US Labor Department on Wednesday confirmed that US consumer prices fell by 0.1% in March.
The fall meant consumer prices were down 0.4% from a year ago, the first annual decline since 1955.
'Economic progress'
The book also noted that "manufacturing activity continued to decline in most districts and across a wide range of industries".