Economic news remains largely awesome

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...120500682.html

Factory Orders Rise Unexpectedly

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 5, 2007; 5:37 PM

WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories rose unexpectedly in October although much of the gain reflected higher energy prices.

The Commerce Department reported that orders advanced by 0.5 percent in October, far better than the flat reading that was expected. However, much of the strength came from a big jump in the cost of petroleum and other energy prices, which pumped up orders at oil refineries and chemical plants. The orders figures are not adjusted for changes in prices.

Orders for nondurable goods such as petroleum products rose by 1.3 percent, helping to offset a 0.2 percent drop in demand for durable goods. The 0.5 percent overall rise in factory orders was the best showing since a 3.4 percent jump in July.

In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that worker productivity roared ahead at an annual rate of 6.3 percent this summer while wage pressures dropped sharply.

Meanwhile, a private sector report on labor market strength projected that business payrolls increased by 189,000 in November. That gain in the ADP report was well above the expectation for a modest gain of 50,000 jobs and caused economists to boost their forecasts for job growth in the government's employment report which will be released Friday.

6.3 percent is phenomenal; with dropping wage pressures is also phenomenal; and another 6-digit increase in jobs. If the housing mess is to impact the economy, it looks like it's going to impact a healthy one, which is great.

When I read AP stories about the economy, I always look for the "but". It's morphed into "although" and "however" here, signs that the economy has been strong for so long that writers are starting to hit the thesaurus, lest their copy be too repetitive.