Recovery still getting its legs

Spring is in the air as well as in the economy. But will it come as surely in the latter as in the former?

That's still an open question. The latest job figures, along with the stock market's long upward climb, suggest that a thaw has at last reliably set in after the wintriest recession since the Great Depression.

But we're not out of the woods yet. The fragile buds of recovery are threatened by any number of storms on the horizon, including persistent high unemployment, millions of homes that remain threatened with foreclosure, and the possibility of a spike in oil prices as a result of unrest in the Middle East.

Given straitened state and federal finances and a political climate hostile to increased government spending, it's unlikely Uncle Sam or New York State can do much to generate new jobs. The Middle East is largely beyond U.S. control as well.

One thing the government might be able to influence is the foreclosure problem, although it won't be easy. Federal programs aimed at easing it have all fallen short so far. But further efforts to prod banks into restructuring home mortgages could blunt future home losses, which makes them worth trying.

Still, the economy is like the weather. It's unpredictable, but sooner or later it gets better.