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ERIE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - General Electric Co <GE.N> CEO Jeffrey Immelt said on Wednesday U.S. capital markets have improved since the end of the first quarter but the overall U.S. economic picture is unchanged.

"The capital markets are a little better" than they were at the end of March, when turmoil prompted by the near-collapse of Bear Stearns Cos Inc <BSC.N> made it difficult for GE to complete deals, Immelt said at the GE annual meeting.

Some of these deals have now been completed, he said.

GE, the second-biggest U.S. company by market value, has raised its 2008 cost-cutting goal to $3 billion from $2 billion, GE spokesman Russell Wilkerson said.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Erie, writing by Nick Zieminski, editing by John Wallace)