Today's data, 2011-02-03

Productivity for U.S. businesses climbed 2.6%, seasonally adjusted, in the fourth quarter, according to the Labor Department. This exceed the predicted reading of 2.2%. Real output--which measures the quantity of goods and services produced--increased an annualized 4.5%, while hours worked increased 1.8%.

New jobless claims dropped by 42,000 to 415,000 last week, according to the Labor Department, following last week's upwardly revised figure of 457,000. Continuing claims also fell by 84,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.93 million during the week ended Jan. 22.< br>
U.S. factory goods orders climbed 0.2% to $426.78 billion in December, said the Commerce Department. This is the third increase in four months. Economists had predicted a 0.5% decline. Excluding transportation--which dropped as a result of slumping airplane demand--factory orders rose 1.7%. However, the improving economy is also causing an increase in costs for raw materials, which may feed into consumer inflation and layoffs.

( Good news.  Very positive. )

 Everything so positive.  It confuse me a lot.