The following is an excerpt from: Russell Pearlmran | December 22, 2011 | Smartmoney.com |
These days, it’s easy to be downbeat about the U.S. economy. Anyone watching the news knows that consumers say they are as depressed as they’ve ever been. In cities around the country, thousands of people have been protesting income inequality. Another ugly patch feels like it’s right around the corner.
But beyond the blaring headlines are some considerably less dour numbers. You might have to look hard for them, but an ever-increasing range of stats — after months of flashing yellow (or red) — are starting to turn green, pros say. Most people already know that the nation is adding more jobs. But spending on such things as construction and cars is on the rise too; manufacturing, productivity and wages are steadily climbing as well. “I’m breathing easier today, given the string of much stronger economic data we’ve gotten recently,” says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. Many analysts believe the economy is not in as dire straits as you might think, and that’s likely good news for the stock market over the long haul.
It’s not always easy, of course, for investors to act on the somewhat abstract notion of a “less bad” economy. Take the job market. As everyone realizes, it’s not pretty, with nearly 14 million Americans unemployed and anywhere from 3 million to 7 million more either underemployed or having given up looking for work, according to various estimates. Nevertheless, the private sector is slowly adding jobs — more than 300,000 of them in a recent three-month stretch, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And there are 7 percent more job openings now than there were a year ago. For investors, that could mean…….
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