The balance of positive to negative news stories about the U.S. economy in the U.S. press in August was the highest it has been since the recession started in December 2007, according to the latest monthly survey of media sentiment, the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator.
Alen Mattich of The Wall Street Journal writes, “Indeed, the indicator has been rising steadily since April, which marked the end of a broadly flat six-month period. OK, so the indicator’s level in August was, at 43.2, still low and considerably below the 50-plus readings that characterize normal expansions. But it is solidly above the threshold that tends to identify the start of recessions.
“So why does the news seem to have been so gloomy?
“To be sure, the headline surveys and data releases have been weakening as the U.S. fiscal stimulus starts to fade, as does the inventory rebuild that followed the massive running down of stocks triggered by the financial crisis. And it is true that employment growth is still lackluster, the housing market is in the doldrums and people are unhappy with how the Obama administration is running the economy.”
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