Jim,....remind me again what you were saying about the state of the US
economy?



Here, this might help:



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Saturday, February 26, 2005

Jeannine Aversa

Associated Press

Washington- The economy clocked in at a 3.8 percent pace in the final
quarter of 2004 - faster than initially thought - and is now cruising at
that speed or better. That could be good news for jobless people hoping for
companies to increase hiring.

In the newest reading on the economy's fitness, the gross domestic product
exceeded a previous estimate of a 3.1 percent annual growth rate for the
October- to-December quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. GDP
measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United
States.

The improvement reflected more robust spending by businesses on capital
equipment and on inventories of goods. The trade deficit also was less of a
drag on fourth-quarter growth than initially thought.

Although economic growth in the final quarter of last year was a bit slower
than the third quarters' 4 percent, the performance was still solid.

"We are now at a comfortable cruising altitude," said Lynn Reaser, chief
economist at Banc of America Capital Management. "What is significant is
that all parts of the economy were pulling their own weight."

In other news, sales of previously owned homes slipped 0.1 percent in
January from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.80
million units, the National Association of Realtors reported. Even with the
dip, sales remained healthy, analysts said.

Also Friday, Bloomberg News reported that 7 million fewer previously owned
single-family houses were sold in the last 16 years than the National
Association of Realtors initially estimated, according to the group's
revised figures.

Resales since 1989 were 10 percent lower per year on average than previously
estimated, the association said in Washington on Friday.

The Realtors issued the revisions after comparing its estimates with results
from the 2000 Census. Single-family home resales last year were still a
record 5.96 million compared with a previous estimate of 6.68 million, the
group said.

On Wall Street, the GDP report lifted stocks. The Dow Jones industrials rose
92.81 points to 10,841.60, the best close since Dec. 28. For the week, the
Dow rose 0.52 percent.

For the current January-to- March quarter, the economy is expected to grow
at a rate of around 4 percent, some economists project.

Analysts are hoping that with the economy moving ahead at a good pace,
companies will feel more inclined to step up hiring in upcoming months.
Economists predict the nation's payrolls will expand by a sizable 225,000 in
February, which would be up from January's 146,000 gain. The government
releases the February employment report next week.

"With decent momentum entering the New Year, we should soon be generating
the kind of job growth that will make the expansion feel like good times,"
said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services.