Good News, 2009 | featured news

Orders for durable goods rebounded sharply in July, up 4.9%, staging their biggest gain in two years on demand for planes and capital goods.

Investors are holding on to their optimism about the economy, sending stocks to fresh 2009 highs. Market indicators rose about 0.5 percent in midday trading Monday, following a surge in overseas markets and extending a big advance from last week.

Even as the July numbers came in better than expected, the job market remains shaky in the months ahead.

Price cuts and tax credits provide a boost.

The government says retail sales advanced in June by the largest amount in five months, led by a surge in gasoline prices and a slight rebound in the battered auto sector.

Some risks remain, but the economy looks set for a fourth-quarter recovery.

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims fell more than expected last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months, fresh evidence that the worst of the recession may have past.

The U.S. unemployment rate was the highest in 26 years, the government said on Friday, but the loss of 345,000 jobs in May, fewer than expected, was seen as a sign that the job market was no longer in free fall.

Discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc says it will add more than 22000 jobs in its US namesake stores in 2009.

The economy’s decline in the quarter was not quite as bad as the government originally believed, kindling hope that the economy could resume growing by the end of 2009.