Although the U.S. unemployment rate has held at 9.4%, the number of new claims fell to 404,000, below expectations.
Economists indicate claims falling below 400,000 will signal that the U.S. unemployment rate will begin to decline.
Housing sales have also improved. Scotiabank Group has predicted a global recovery with global output expected to grow 4.2% and 4.4%, respectively, in 2011 and 2012. While the majority of this growth will occur in emerging economies, advanced economies, including the United States, are expected to see growth.
Still, for now U.S. unemployment remains stubbornly high with few new jobs being created. There are genuine concerns that the U.S. might be in a jobless recovery, despite Obama's assertions to the contrary.
Time will tell
