Slowly but surely, more economists and experts are expressing some optimism about the economy, saying the worst might be over. New indicators released this morning support that sentiment.
Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker told the Danville Register & Bee newspaper that he thought the economy was leveling out and there was “reason for hope.”
Government data released today showed the U.S. economy contracted more slowly than expected in the second quarter of the year. Other figures showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped last week and those collecting long-term unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since April.
Other than the economic indicators, it looks to be a slow, August day in Washington. President Barack Obama is still on vacation and has no plans to speak to the media today as he has the past couple of days.
Several days of mourning for Senator Edward Kennedy began on Thursday with a private family mass in Hyannis Port before the senator’s body will be taken to the presidential library of his late brother. The body will remain there until Saturday when his funeral will be held at a Boston church. He will be buried on Saturday evening at Arlington National Cemetery near the graves of his slain brothers John and Robert.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (People line up for job fair in Washington)
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2 comments so far
WOW! ! ! The economy is swirling the drain and that’s OK as long as the Crystal Balls keep saying it should be worse! Shrinking at 1% is steady to improving because some twit says they thought it should have been more… So now are you are going to claim the 1.6 TRILlion deficit is actually a surplus because someone thought it would be 1.8T??
- Posted by RikkWhat would you be saying if the Republicans were in charge?? Check your record, I already know what it says…
One of the problems that people are aware of is the stagnation that occurs when you have a combination of government jobs plus union activity .Classic example,i walk my dogs in a park here in CA. The park maintenance is contracted to a private contractor who have two workers who diligently get on with their work and do a excellent job in the park.Today a city parks and recreation truck pulls up to do some minor inspection.Two guys rolled out of the truck not just over weight but actually twice the body weight they should have been.It is obvious that these guy were not physically fit enough to do any manual work,and as a matter of fact they did not,but this one of the worries that we know will prevail when there is no competitive process. examine productivity in a country like France and you will see the direction we are heading,SAY NO TO A GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY IN HEALTH CARE
- Posted by brian lee