Good News, Bad News

—By

| Fri May. 6, 2011 8:27 AM PDT

Yesterday we had a slew of bad economic reports, including a huge rise in the number in new unemployment claims. Today we have good news: the number of new jobs is up strongly. Conclusion: who knows? Basically, we're undergoing a fragile, unsteady recovery, and I'm not sure you can say an awful lot more than that with any confidence. Steve Benen's chart showing the long-term trend is below.

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