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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New orders for long-lasting U.S.-made goods rose in February for the first time in seven months and new home sales rebounded, government data showed on Wednesday, suggesting the economic downturn might be easing a bit. (Woo Hoo…this is good news!)
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose 3.4 percent to $165.6 billion in February, the biggest gain since December 2007, after a 7.3 percent drop the prior month. Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose at their fastest pace in 10 months in February, it said in another report. (Promising!)
“The sky is no longer falling, we seem to have hit rock bottom. The data suggest that the weakest month of the recession possibly was January and now things will probably stabilize at this lower level,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. (I love this quote, “The sky is no longer falling!)
U.S. stocks rallied on the data, with the Dow Jones industrial average ending 89.84 points higher at 7,749.81 and the S&P 500 closing up 7.76 at 813.88.
The upbeat economic reports and tepid demand in a record-large auction of five-year U.S. Treasury notes sent benchmark government bond yields, which move inversely to prices, rising to their highest in a week.
Recent data, including retail sales and housing, have pointed to some signs of a moderation in the pace of the 15 month housing-led recession. (Whew!) Full story visit “>FULL STORY
See? It’s not all doom & gloom! Here’s to more good intel to follow!
