New Data Offers Some Positive Signs for the Recovery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a 3 1/2-year low last week, and factory activity in parts of the Northeast gained speed in December, suggesting a further strengthening of the economic recovery.

You can't build economic recovery on phantom jobs

Before his American Jobs Act failed to pass a Senate cloture vote last week, President Barack Obama made a last-ditch speech to talk up his troubled bill. Not once did Obama mention "green jobs" - his erstwhile jobs of the future.

Smart move. Obama's 2009 $787 billion stimulus package included $500 million for training programs that were supposed to create green jobs for thousands of middle-class Americans. Last month, however, the Department of Labor's inspector general conducted an audit that found that as of June 30 - with one-third of the funds spent and more than 50,000 participants - only 10 percent of trainees were placed in jobs. And only 1,336 participants, or 2 percent, had held jobs for six months or longer.

Jobs recovery continues to sputter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Don't look to August for a robust jobs recovery. According to a report out Wednesday, the U.S. economy added jobs during the month, but not nearly at the momentum seen earlier this year.

Private sector employers added 91,000 workers in August, down from the 109,000 jobs added in July, payroll processing firm ADP reported.

Recovery Doubted Due to Weak Employment Numbers

Hiring slowed down in May with only a 9.1% rise in employment indicating a slower economic recovery. Last month, nonfarm payrolls rose 54,000. Growth is also constrained by supply disruption after Japan’s disasters. Still analysts believe the economy will not head back into a recession as high gasoline prices are believed to be only temporary. The weak report indicated a slowdown in economic momentum affected further by consumer spending and manufacturing data. The hiring report had no clear impact caused by tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest and South said the Labor Department.

Bernanke Says High Unemployment, Housing Restrain U.S. Economic Recovery

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said high levels of joblessness and home foreclosures are restraining the U.S. recovery and putting many people and communities at risk of being “left behind.”

“The broader economy is in a moderate recovery, and we have recently seen some welcome, if gradual, improvement in the labor market,” Bernanke said in a speech today in Arlington, Virginia. “But our economy is far from where we would like it to be, and many people and neighborhoods are in danger of being left behind.