Carlos Osorio/AP
Some factories are humming again.
Orders for manufactured goods rose a hefty 1.7% in January from December, the Census Bureau says. And that, the Associated Press writes, is "another sign that manufacturing is helping to support" the hoped-for economic recovery.
On the other hand, though, Bloomberg News says "the number of contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in January, showing the extension of a tax credit is sparking little interest. The index of purchase agreements, or pending home sales, fell 7.6% after a revised 0.8% increase in December, the National Association of Realtors announced in Washington."
Planet Money tries to make sense of the economic news here.
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