Washington ? The limping economy is showing no meaningful signs of revival, the latest batch of reports suggests.

Shoppers were tightfisted in March based on disappointing sales figures reported by the nation’s retailers. New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, but are still at a high level, pointing to a sluggish job market.

And, the U.S. trade deficit, while narrowing in February, was still the third highest on record.

“Overall, the economy has ended the first quarter on a weak note,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Capital Management. “Businesses and consumers remain cautious.”

Chief executive officers of major U.S. companies, meanwhile, are largely glum about the economy’s prospects in the months ahead, the Business Roundtable, a big business advocacy group said Thursday.

“CEOs identified their greatest economic challenges as consumer uncertainty resulting from the implications of war with Iraq and terrorism, and weak consumer demand,” said John Dillon, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of International Paper.

Even with signs that the war in Iraq may be winding down, Dillon said executives are still concerned about how long it will take for the economy to get back to full throttle. To help along the economic recovery, he urged Congress to enact President Bush’s tax-cut plan in its entirety.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a seasonally adjusted 38,000 to 405,000.

“The level of claims two weeks into the war remained too high to signal renewed hiring,” said Maury Harris, chief economist at UBS Warburg.

In a another report, the Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed in February to $40.3 billion as prewar jitters crimped Americans’ demand for foreign-made goods. Exports edged up.