US economy could do better in 2014 as job growth accelerates

Rex Nutting thinks that the US economy will do better in 2014.

What’s different this year is that some of the forecasters who’ve been most realistic about how long it would take to recover are now predicting better days in 2014...

Their argument? The fiscal drag is easing. Households have deleveraged. The worries about contagion from a euro explosion have eased. Job growth seems solid. Consumers are buying houses and cars again. And businesses are planning to invest more to expand their productive capacity.

Indeed, Friday brought evidence that the US economy is picking itself up from the winter doldrums.

Job growth accelerated in February. The economy added 175,000 jobs last month after having added 129,000 in January. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent in February from 6.6 percent in January.

Also, US exports and imports both increased 0.6 percent in January, leaving the trade deficit little changed.

Meanwhile, economic data elsewhere on Friday were also positive.

In Japan, the index of coincident economic indicators rose 2.5 points in January while the index of leading economic indicators rose 0.5 point.

In Germany, industrial output rose 0.8 percent in January after having risen 0.1 percent in December.