Here we go again

Well some good and bad news coming out of the U.S. economy today. The New York Times reported that the U.S. economy actually grew for the first time in two years, ending "the longest contraction since World War II." However, analyists say that most of that growth can be attributed to government aide, such as the "cash-for-clunkers" program initiated earlier this summer. Additionally, an increase in jobs will not factor into this equation, at least for the next year.

At some point firms will have to begin to bring some of their workers back, but it may not be anytime soon,” said Joseph Brusuelas, director of MoodysEconomy.com “That means 2010 may be a year of growth in the economy, but it’s likely to be characterized as jobless growth.

So basically, that means that the average job-seeker will probably not feel any effects of positive economic news for awhile. Unfortunately I'm one of those job-seekers.

In other news, the Boston Globe reported that the Massachusetts economy continued to shrink despite the growth of the national economy. In the article, some attribute this to the fact that federal programs only benefit certain types of state economies, and since Massachusetts doesn't have a large auto operation, it didnt benefit as much from "cash for clunkers" as other states, like Michigan.

The apparent strong performance of the national economy may be misleading,'' Goodman said. "While it it's clear that the Massachusetts economy continues to fight its way through this difficult recession, today's [national economic] report reflects, among other things, the impact of one-time programs.

Basically, this is more depressing news coming out of the economy. Blah.