EconomicCrisis.US

The dark clouds over the U.S. economy may finally be parting.

It wasn’t just the Dow’s 490-point jump to post its biggest one-day gain since March 2009.

Spend-happy holiday shoppers, an improving job market, and continued manufacturing growth all indicate things are on the right track, economists said.

“The fact that we seem to be gathering some momentum right now, that’s incredibly encouraging,” said Omair Sharif, a U.S. economist at RBS Securities.

Private companies created far more jobs than expected in November, which may bode well for Friday’s more comprehensive jobs report from the government.
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The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven months, a sign the recovery may be encouraging companies to limit cuts in headcount.

Jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 390,000 in the week ended Nov. 5, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for 400,000 new claims. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls decreased, while those getting extended payments rose.
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In a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump, household income declined more in the two years after the recession ended than it did during the recession itself, new research has found.

Between June 2009, when the recession officially ended, and June 2011, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 6.7 percent, to $49,909, according to a study by two former Census Bureau officials. During the recession — from December 2007 to June 2009 — household income fell 3.2 percent.
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Labor Day has evolved over the years. What began as an ode to unionized workers, to those who were banding together to fight unacceptable working conditions, has been altered over the past century.

Now the holiday is often regarded as simply another day off, a chance for a final fling of summer, an opportunity for a backyard barbecue. Yet it remains important to assess the meaning of the occasion.

Established as a federal holiday in 1894, Labor Day celebrated a movement that eventually proved crucial to the development of the world’s most powerful economy and the rise of America’s middle class.
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