Free Republic

The US economy probably grew at a rate of 3.7% in the third quarter of 2004. Details to come...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. personal incomes rose 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2004, the fastest pace of growth in more than three years as income gains sped up in 33 states, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. All 50 U.S. states reported increases in personal income, and real earnings for all eight U.S. regions climbed above the level set in the first quarter of 2001, the previous peak in the national business cycle, the government reported. The Rocky Mountain and Far West regions posted the strongest personal income growth. Washington led the nation with a 2.4 percent increase...

<p>U.S. employers added 248,000 workers to payrolls in May, more than forecast, helped by the biggest gain in manufacturing employment in almost six years. The economy has now recouped all the jobs lost since the recession ended in November 2001. The unemployment rate held at 5.6 percent.</p>

Thursday May 20, 2004--After reaching its lowest level of the years in recent days, the President's Job Approval rating has moved back up to 52%. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove. For most of April and May, the President's ratings have stayed at 51% or 52%. His numbers have fallen during periods of especially bad news from Iraq. Several people have asked why the Rasmussen Reports Job Approval number is higher than some other reported figures. As with most polling questions, the answer can be found in the details. For example, while it has been widely reported that Zogby finds the President's...

<p>May 6 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits dropped to 315,000 last week, the fewest since October 2000, a government report showed.</p> <p>Initial applications fell by 25,000 in the week that ended Saturday from 340,000, the Labor Department said in Washington. The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits declined to 2.935 million in the week that ended April 24, the lowest since June 2001. The statistics are reported with a one- week lag to initial claims.</p>

<p>U.S. Economy: March Factory Orders Increased 4.3% (Update2) May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Orders placed with U.S. factories jumped 4.3 percent in March, the biggest increase since July 2002, as an accelerating economy prompted companies to demand more machines, electronics and petroleum.</p>

The US economy grew at a rate of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2004. Details to come...