>[At least, that's the claim made within the body of a
>WSJ piece on increased factory orders and service
>sector activity show "strength". Looks fishy to me.
>Anyone care to dissect? - DRM]
I think the productivity numbers are underestimating labor inputs, but that's a complicated story. As for the other indics, they're almost all coming in above expectations, and look like the U.S. economy is accelerating. The job market isn't - yet - but it does seem to be stabilizing. The ISM Service survey is too new to have a track record, but their manufacturing survey goes back decades, and has a fine track record. So I'd take these numbers seriously. Still think this is a cyclical expansion within a dyspeptic larger trend, though.
Doug