(edited for brevity.)
America’s manufacturers saw orders for big-ticket goods go up in October by the largest amount in more than a year, an encouraging sign that the economic recovery was on firm footing at the start of the final quarter. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new orders for "durable" goods — costly manufactured products expected to last at least three years — rose by 3.3 percent last month, up from a 2.1 percent rise registered in September. "Businesses are more confident that the recovery is real, that it is beginning to turn into an expansion and that general economic conditions will continue to improve into 2004," said David Huether, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers.
In other economic news, consumer spending held steady in October, while people’s incomes grew by a solid 0.4 percent, the department said in a second report. The figures matched economists’ forecasts. The growth in income was encouraging because it provides a critical foundation for future spending. New claims for unemployment benefits last week dropped by a seasonally adjusted 11,000 to 351,000, the lowest level since January 2001, the Labor Department said in a report that provided fresh evidence that the jobs market is turning around. October’s manufacturing performance was considerably stronger than economists were expecting. They were forecasting durable orders to rise by 0.7 percent last month. The 3.3 percent increase represented the best showing since July 2002, when orders soared by 8.1 percent. The economy grew by a stunning 8.2 percent rate in the July-to-September quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two decades. That strong showing — along with a surge in consumer confidence in November — raised hopes for the recovery’s staying power.
Economists have been predicting that the brisk pace of consumer spending, which helped the economy grow at such a red-hot pace in the third quarter, just couldn’t be sustained and that spending would slow in the current quarter. Even so, economists still expect consumers to keep their pocketbooks and wallets sufficiently open in the months ahead to help the recovery. Economists are hopeful that stronger growth from elsewhere in the economy_ notably capital investment by business — will help compensate for any slowdown in consumer spending. Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States and has been a main force helping the economy get back on surer footing after the 2001 recession.
Nice to hear good news on the homefront, this has got to be pissing off the terrorist supporters. 9/11 was supposed to tank our economy for good. Sorry! |