corrente

As in W's Weak Recovery...

Amy Baldwin of AP writes:

The Commerce Department issued disappointing economic data showing demand for durable goods dropped by a sizable 0.9 percent in August, raising doubts about the manufacturing sector's delicate recovery. The decrease in new orders for durable goods, items including cars and home appliances expected to last at least three years, was the first and largest decline in four months and bigger than the 0.5 percent dip economists anticipated.

And for the lucky duckies:

new applications for jobless benefits fell last week by a seasonally adjusted 19,000 to 381,000, a seven-month low, the Labor Department said. But at least half of the decrease was attributable to workers not being able to file claims because of Hurricane Isabel, which hit the East Coast, a department analyst said.