Take a look at this chart. This alone should provide clear evidence that the Obama stimulus worked to stem job losses and stop a great depression. The jobs market has steadily improved since. It still has a way to go, but the trend line is absolutely clear.
Recent news on durable goods orders was terrible, but perhaps it was an aberration. This news on manufacturing activity paints a more positive picture.
U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly expanded in September for the first time since May as new orders and employment picked up, but the pace of growth showed the economy was still stuck in a slow recovery.
The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday its index of national factory activity rose to 51.5 from 49.6 in August.
“We’re not quite at the point where things are good, but this indicates strongly that things are not so bad,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.
It was the first time since May that the index has been above the 50 threshold that indicates expansion in the sector.
The forward-looking new orders gauge also rose to its highest level since May at 52.3 from 47.1, while employment gained to 54.7 from 51.6.
Overall the news is choppy as the economy struggles to gain traction, but perhaps this good sign can help build momentum.
Things were starting to look pretty grim earlier this summer as job growth slowed and manufacturing activity slowed down, but now we’re starting to see some signs of life in the economy.
After a spring and summer of weak economic indicators, a flurry of fresh data suggest key sectors of the economy might be gaining traction, just as the battle for the White House enters the final round.
The long-moribund housing market has bustled to life, with prices and new-home construction rising in recent weeks. Hiring, so weak earlier this year, picked up last month. And on Thursday, the government reported an acceleration of a downward trend in the number of people seeking unemployment insurance, as well as a sharp improvement in U.S. exports.
The housing news is key, as we were never going to have significant GDP or job growth without reaching a bottom in the housing market as Warren Buffett explained many times.
Stocks surged in the United States and around the world today as markets reacted to the latest news out of Europe. We’ve had so many deals and false starts, but it looks like serious progress might be at hand in Europe.
By the end of a vital two-day summit here, European diplomacy had played out like soccer, with Spain and Italy — the two nations headed to the Euro 2012 finals — emerging victorious and the Germans returning home in shock.
After a marathon 14 hours of talks, Berlin unexpectedly agreed to concessions clearing the way for a deal that could help both Madrid and Rome in their desperate efforts to stave off economic collapse.
The agreement, while conditional on the creation of a regulatory body, addressed the core of the questions facing Europe: Who will cover the tab for its 2½-year-old debt crisis, and how?
Under the terms of the deal, troubled euro-zone countries would have more options for aid, including using a pool of European rescue funds to directly recapitalize ailing banks. That, in turn, would spare governments the humiliation of having to ask for aid themselves to channel to domestic banks, sidestepping the kind of intrusive financial inspections imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The big change has to do with the decision to directly fund the troubled banks. Check out the whole article for the story, but it looks like Germany will cave here.
Watch this video, and you’ll learn how sugar is one of the biggest health problems we face in this country.
But, the new farm bill passed in the Senate leaves sugar subsidies in place.
The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries.
The 64-35 vote for passage defied political odds. Many inside and outside of Congress had predicted that legislation so expensive and so complicated would have little chance of advancing in an election year.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called it “one of the finest moments in the Senate in recent times in terms of how you pass a bill.”
Is there a better example of what’s wrong with our politics?
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