Friday 29 January 2010

US durable goods orders, eurozone confidence rise

In his first State of the Union address, President Barack Obama pledged to make jobs a priority. He's likely to get help from a recovering economy. From Bloomberg on Thursday:

Bookings for durable goods excluding transportation equipment climbed 0.9 percent last month, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Initial jobless applications fell to 470,000 in the week ended Jan. 23 from 478,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will also be around to help.

Ben S. Bernanke, head of the central bank, was confirmed by the Senate today to a second term as chairman.

Meanwhile, in the euro area, confidence continues to improve. Bloomberg reports:

European confidence in the economic outlook improved for a 10th month in January as reviving global demand helped stoke exports and bolstered earnings across the 16-nation euro region.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment increased to 95.7 from a revised 94.1 in December, the European Commission in Brussels said today. Economists expected confidence to rise to 92.3 from a previously reported December reading of 91.3, the median of 29 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed.

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