By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Friday's official jobs numbers were better than expected. The Labor Department says 165,000 private-sector positions were created in April, pushing the unemployment rate down to 7.5 percent, a decline of only a tenth of a percentage point from March.
A survey shows U.S. manufacturing activity expanded more slowly in March than February, held back by weaker growth in production and new orders. But factories hired at the fastest pace in nine months, an encouraging sign ahead of Friday's report on March employment.
Stocks edged lower on Wall Street on Monday after an industry group reported that U.S. manufacturing growth cooled in March and was weaker than economists had forecast.
A healthier economy and more model introductions should push U.S. auto sales above the 15 million mark this year, an auto industry research analyst predicts.
With only weeks to go, American businesses are bracing for the impact of the "fiscal cliff" in major ways.
U.S. manufacturing shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009, the first month after the Great Recession ended. Worries about automatic tax increases in the New Year cut demand for factory orders and manufacturing jobs.
U.S. manufacturing shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009, one month after the Great Recession ended. Worries about automatic tax increases in the new year cut demand for factory orders and manufacturing jobs.
Stocks edged lower on Wall Street Monday after a surprisingly weak manufacturing report heightened concern that fiscal deadlock in Washington is already hurting the economy.
U.S. service companies grew at a slightly slower pace in October than September because of a decline in new orders. But a measure of employment rose, indicating services firms hired more.
Stocks rose strongly Thursday on Wall Street following positive reports about manufacturing and consumer confidence, two keys elements of the economic recovery.
A pair of encouraging economic reports helped nudge the stock market higher Wednesday. Measures of business activity in the service sector and job growth last month came in better than economists had expected.
Stocks are surging on Wall Street, breaking a four-day losing streak, after the government reported a sharp pickup in hiring by U.S. employers in July.
Reading the economy these days is like taking a Rorschach test: Optimists see signs of progress in each economic report, while pessimists see the end of the expansion and many others host middling views.
It's starting to feel a lot like the late 1970s when America's economic engine stalled. It's a sign of how low expectations have fallen when the monthly jobs numbers released Friday showed a gain of a paltry 84,000 - leaving the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent - no one was surprised.
U.S. service companies grew in June at the slowest pace in nearly two and a half years, a troubling sign for the economy.
