Heading into the long 4th of July weekend, here are some positive economic indicators for businesses of all sizes.
U.S. Exports hit all time high
The U.S. trade deficit fell in May as U.S. exports hit an all-time high, helped by a jump in exports of petroleum products. Imports dipped slightly.
(Read More: ABC News)
Employers added 288,000 jobs in May
Economists had predicted 215,000. Businesses added 262,000 of those jobs, while local, state and federal government added 26,000. In addition, job gains for April and May were revised up by a total of 29,000.
(Read More: USAToday.com)
Unemployment rate falls to 6.1%, lowest since September 2008
Analysts had forecast that the unemployment rate would remain unchanged at 6.3%.)
(Read More: CBS News)
Employees say their employers are hiring
Gallup’s U.S. Job Creation Index registered at +27 in June, tying May’s index as the highest score in more than six years of tracking employee sentiment regarding the hiring activity at their place or work.
(Read More: Gallup.com)
New York Times pundit finds cloud in silver lining
One last reason to celebrate: It wouldn’t be natural to treat all of the above as good news without at least one New York Times pundit being assigned to write the “On the other hand” article. Don’t get too optimistic about the numbers, writes Neil Irwin, a Times senior economics correspondent. “The bad winter (may have) forced many schools to remain open later into June than usual, resulting in more teachers and administrators being on payrolls in the middle of last month than the seasonal adjustment procedures would account for.”
(Read More: New York Times)
Update: The Stock Market reaches record high
After we posted this, the U.S. stock market decided to join in the celebration by hitting new record highs. The Dow Jone Industrial average finished the day above 17,000 for the first time in history and the S&P 500 also finished at a record high. And the Nasdaq closed at its highest level since the dot.com crash of 2000.
(Read More: Reuters.com)