I had a first interview for Product Manager for Google about a week ago and got the reject couple of days back. The recruiter said it was close. I played back the interview in my head and realized I could have been more methodical in my answers. Finally, just decided to let go.
For an in-house recruiter, yes. They generally say that because they want you to interview again in the future. I don’t think they would waste their time if it wasn’t close.
Head hunters on the other hand will generally say anything to get you to keep interviewing.
In the end its just a footnote.