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March 31, 2005
Some Cheerful Economic News
And Lord knows, we can use cheerful. Iraq? Damn-they voted and attacks are down. The economy? Well, with reports like this, if Bushchimphitler can get the oil thing under control, whatever are the Democrats going to do?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy seems to be on firm footing, according to reports on Thursday, with strong consumer spending, moderate inflation and a robust outlook for Midwest factories.
However, a jump in first-time jobless claims last week helped dim some of the optimism. U.S. government bond prices initially rose on the jobs news, but then pared gains on news the Chicago purchasing management index rose to 69.2 in March, the highest level since 1988. In addition, the PMI's factory employment index jumped to the highest level since 1983.(all emphasis mine)
*Update:Whoops!! The news just continues to deteriorate...for the Dems. The March unemployment rate, which is calculated from a separate survey, declined to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.
Posted by tree hugging sister at March 31, 2005 12:37 PM
Comments
Hurrah! I'm going to buy some wine...Australian, of course.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at March 31, 2005 01:40 PM