Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Modest Improvement

There were a couple of modest but positive reports on the economy this week. First of all, the National Association of Home Builders monthly index ticked upward for November. It reached a five-month high, and is more than double where it bottomed out last January. That's not a sign that a rebound is imminent, but it looks like we've already been through housing's trough.

Also, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday that factory output was up 0.5 percent in October, after rising 0.2 percent in September. Overall, industrial output was flat as well, but that was a modest increase from September, when it had dropped 0.2 percent. That was the first decline in industrial output since the end of the recession, so it's nice to see that trend ending quickly.

Of course, we'll need to see stronger numbers than this for this economy to get back into gear. But these are a couple of steps in the right direction.

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