Reports to show U.S. economy continued to grow in December, but there's no evidence yet that the recovery will continue in the new year.
Jan. 1, 2012, 9:00 a.m. EST
U.S. jobs data likely to confirm momentum
Yet even as 2011 ends on strong note, doubts persist about 2012
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The first week of the new year will reveal a lot about U.S. economy in the final month of the old year.
A string of economic reports this week is likely to reveal that manufacturing and service-oriented companies continue to expand and that businesses are adding jobs at a faster clip. The capstone is Friday’s monthly report on job creation in December.
Yet what the data cannot reveal is whether the recent momentum is sustainable in the early months of 2012. Afterall, the economy entered 2011 with a head of steam only to falter later on.
The biggest potential drags, economists say, are slower government spending at all levels and the fragile financial health of U.S. households.
Stronger growth in the final three months of 2011, economists point out, was largely underpinned by consumers dipping into their savings to pay for holiday-season purchases. Some expect consumers to retrench over the next few months to pay down their debt and rebuild their savings.
If that happens, the U.S. economy is likely to slow again and repeat a recent stop-and-go pattern.
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Full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobs-data-likely-to-confirm-momentum-2012-01-01
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