Business: View from the Bottom?

Those who felt that the recession was bottoming out found some facts to back their faith.

¶Overall unemployment was going down, though factory jobs in April fell off another 271,000 to 15 million. For the week ended May 5, the Labor Department reported the year's biggest drop in those collecting unemployment compensation, with a dip of 66,900 to a total of 3,265,700. Part of the drop was due to a seasonal pickup in outdoor workers, yet initial jobless claims for the week also turned down by 19,800. ¶Retail sales rose in April to $16.1...