One by one, the last remaining soft spots in the U.S. economy are firming. After months in the horse latitudes, retail and auto sales are scudding along at a brisk pace. Last week came two new harbingers of boom: a sharp drop in unemployment and a pickup in the long-sluggish construction market.
With dispiriting consistency, unemployment has been averaging just under 7% ever since last January. But in November the number of unemployed abruptly dropped to 6.1% of the work force. Unseasonably warm weather had reduced the usual winter layoffs in outdoor jobs....
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