Americans are nothing if not optimists. And there certainly seems to be a sense of rising hope that the economy just may have finally turned a corner, if not the corner. A closer look at some of the numbers tells a less worrisome story. Here are five signs that things are looking up. The most recent report on initial claims for unemployment posted its best showing in nearly four years. This indicator has been consistently pointing in a better direction. It reinforces the strong January jobs report that the national unemployment rate had fallen to 8.3 percent. No one knows if housing has finally hit bottom, but surely we’re close. And the pollsters at Gallup say Americans’ confidence has risen for five consecutive months. It still trails levels hit last year, not to mention its prerecession readings. But it is moving in the right direction. [Read this article]
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