Confidence is on the rise
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While concern over the economy is understandable, recent reports are favorable:
On April 16th, Top Federal Reserve policy-maker Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve,
said he sees a return to growth in the U.S. economy this year. Lockhart said he expects the recession to
end by mid-year with growth slowly picking up in the following months.
“There are some encouraging signs that support cautious optimism,” Lockhart told the conference
at the Levy Economics Institute in New York. “I do not expect a strong recovery, but I do expect the
economic contraction we’re now experiencing to give way to slow and tentative growth as early as
the third quarter.”
On April 17th Reuters reported: U.S. consumers have more confidence in the U.S. economy than they have had
since the sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, which caused the near-implosion of the global
banking system, a survey showed.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary April reading of consumer
sentiment rose to a level of 61.9, up from 57.3 in March and was the highest since 70.3 recorded in September.