U.S. economy on rise; water, food drive thousands of Haitians to golf club grounds

        Recovery Room? The index of leading economic indicators rose 1.1% in December from November, a figure 8.8% higher than last March and the strongest rebound in 25 years.  The index, published by The Conference Board, considers 10 economic indicators, including building permits.  Eight of the indicators increased month over month, and the overall index stands at just over 106; in 2004, the index was 100.

        “The indicators point to an economy in early recovery,” said The

Conference Board’s Chief Economist, Ken Goldstein.  “The coincident economic index shows slow expansion of economic activity through December.  The leading economic index suggests that the pace of improvement could pick up this spring.”

        From the points of view of us non-economists living in the real world, it is hard to reconcile the optimism (although, don’t get me wrong, we can’t wait for the rebound).  But The Conference Board report is part of a larger, much more ambiguous context.  Indeed, the Wall Street Journal today carried a few paragraphs about the upbeat report in an article headlined “Jobless Claims Rise Again.”  A surge in unemployment claims last month indicates, the Journal wrote, that “the labor market has yet to catch up with growth in the overall economy.”  We know from history that employment recovery typically lags an overall economic recovery, but the gulf between the two seems wide indeed.

         For those considering a relocation and the purchase of a home, it would do well to check employment figures in the places you might move

to as a way to gauge the prospects for the housing market there.  Also, some markets in the southern U.S. did not experience wild surges in home prices before the market turned and, therefore, have not suffered the severe drops (chances are their local industries have not shed as many jobs as elsewhere either).

         If you are contemplating a move, let us know and we will run the local market numbers for you.

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        Golf Course Brings Relief.  Haiti’s only private golf course, nine holes just outside Port Au Prince, is now a huge relief camp, with 50,000 displaced Haitians sleeping nightly on its hillsides, according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor.  The U.S. military landed its helicopters on the upper part of the Petionville Club’s course a few days ago and is distributing 10,000 bottles of water and 4,000 meals a day to the thousands of Haitians who gained entrance to the private golf club’s grounds when a retaining wall fell.

        Hundreds are arriving daily as word spreads that provisions are available.  Of the dismal life on the first golf course many have ever seen, the Monitor writes, “Some children play soccer with a small rubber ball, while others enjoy the never-before-seen contours of a golf course, sliding down its smooth slopes on makeshift cardboard sleds.”  Read the full story here.