But individuals aren't benefiting because companies just aren't doing much hiring. An estimated 15 million people remain without jobs and the unemployment rate tops 10 percent in more than a quarter of the states, according to the Labor Department. As a result, consumer spending is soft.
There was some good news on the jobs front, however. A few districts showed improvements in temporary hiring, and in the Atlanta region, for example, the pace of layoffs has eased.
Fed officials "aren't fawning over how great the economy is, but it's not just less bad -- it's actually getting better," John Canally, an economist for LPL Financial, told the Journal. "You are in that period where the recession is over, but you don't have job growth. And until we get job growth, nobody is going to believe the recession is over."





