Economic conditions remain quite bad, and I don’t want to oversell the importance of a few data points, but it’s worth noting some positive news.
Here are three positive developments, as reported by CNN Money:
Despite the stomach churning month, stocks ended September with strong gains. The Dow jumped 7.7%, the biggest September gain in 71 years. The S&P also posted the biggest gain since 1939, rising 8.7% in the month, while the Nasdaq climbed 12%.
There were 453,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Sept.18, down 16,000 from an upwardly revised 469,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department's weekly report.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting 457,000 new claims.
The nation's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, was upwardly revised to an annual growth rate of 1.7% in the three months ending in June, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
While a slight uptick came as good news, the minor revision wasn't a major shocker either. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast the number to stay unchanged at 1.6%.
So growth is still anemic and unemployment claims are still high, but they're better than we thought. But it's not bad news, and that's relieving.