There's some good news on the economic front. We still have to see what the official numbers say but this is an encouraging batch of reports. CNBC:
The news is all good for the jobs market so far in 2012: Separate reports Thursday showed a surge in private-sector job creation, a sharp drop in weekly unemployment claims and planned layoffs at their lowest level in six months. Though the December data flowing in is sensitive to seasonal revisions, the trend is moving in the right direction. Private-sector jobs surged by 325,000, according to ADP and Macroeconomic Advisors, while the government said weekly jobless claims fell 15,000 to 372,000 — still at an elevated level but consistent with recent data showing a consistent if grudging turnaround.
