Democrats placed on suicide watch..

Nancy Pelosi orders copious amounts of antacid....

Economic Growth Is Stronger Than Expected
From My Way News...

Feb 25, 2:58 PM (ET)

By JEANNINE AVERSA

(AP) The slight increase had been expected given that weekly claims had been declining in recent weeks.... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy clocked in at a 3.8 percent pace in the final quarter of 2004 - faster than initially thought - and is now cruising at that speed or better. That could be good news for jobless people hoping for companies to increase hiring.

In the newest reading on the economy's fitness, the gross domestic product exceeded a previous estimate of a 3.1 percent annual growth rate for the October-to-December quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States.

The improvement reflected more robust spending by businesses on capital equipment and on inventories of goods. The trade deficit also was less of a drag on fourth-quarter growth than initially thought.

Although economic growth in the final quarter of last year was a bit slower than the third quarters' 4 percent, the performance was still solid.

(AP) The small increase, reported Wednesday by the Labor Department, marked the second month that... Full Image

"We are now at a comfortable cruising altitude," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Capital Management. "What is significant is that all parts of the economy were pulling their own weight."

In other news, sales of previously owned homes slipped 0.1 percent in January from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.80 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported. Even with the dip, sales remained healthy, analysts said.

For the current January-to-March quarter, the economy is expected to grow at a rate of around 4 percent, some economists project.

Analysts are hoping that with the economy moving ahead at a good pace, companies will feel more inclined to step up hiring in upcoming months. Economists predict the nation's payrolls will expand by a sizable 225,000 in February, which would be up from January's 146,000 gain. The government releases the February employment report next week.

The Ice Palace notes...

This is horrible news for the democrats, who ran a whole presidential and congressional campaign on Bush's failed economic policies. To paraphrase the great Rush Limbaugh, this is what happens when you set yourself up to gain only when others fail. The way things are going, it's not looking so rosy for the dems in 2006 or 2008 either.
-Psycmeistr-