I really really want to believe.... but with news like this I wonder..
<<<Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its monthly regional survey of business activity -- closely watched as a barometer of future factory activity -- posted its first decline this year in August.
In another downbeat report on Thursday, the Labor Department said state jobless benefit claims rose by 6,000 to 388,000 in the Aug. 10 week. The four-week moving average, seen by many analysts as a more reliable indicator of labor market trends, edged up slightly to 381,750.
While the manufacturing reports taken together fanned market concerns that the nation's manufacturing sector -- which had seemed to be recovering after absorbing huge job losses last year -- could again be faltering, some economists said the softness was not unexpected.
"The economy hit a little bit of a lull in the summer, but I don't think it is particularly worrisome. But it is consistent with a moderate to weak economic recovery," said Kurt Karl, chief economist with Swiss Re in New York, after the noon release of the Philadelphia Fed numbers.>>>> |
