EDITORIAL: Economy's encouraging signs of life

The U.S. economy has been in something like a coma for about three years, but lately there are signs the patient is starting to wake up.

The latest good news is of accelerating private-sector job growth on Long Island, where seven straight months of year-over-year increases culminated in the biggest increase of all: 10,900 last month versus October 2009.

There are other signs of hope. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by two-thirds from the terrifying bottom of 2009. Solid companies that not long ago found it hard to borrow are now doing so at historically low interest rates, and even riskier ventures are finding it easier to raise cash. Corporate profits have been encouraging, and General Motors has bounced back, selling stock to the public at a price higher than first anticipated. Jobless claims seem to be moderating.

But in this dismal economy, every silver lining seems to have a cloud. Private-sector job gains are partly offset by reductions in public employment, and more such cuts loom. The Dow is up, but stock investors are still no better off than in 2001. And a huge overhang of homes awaiting foreclosure is depressing the housing market.

As to all that liquidity, well, it beats the alternative. But didn't a flood of cheap money help get us into this mess in the first place?

Someday the U.S. economy will return to its customary robust health. Meanwhile, let's just be glad for all the recent signs of a pulse. hN