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 WASHINGTON (AP) - There are signs the economy is shaking off the effects of the devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The nation's retailers reported solid sales gains for October, a key gauge of activity in service industries posted a big rebound and productivity advanced at the strongest pace in more than a year, according to reports issued Thursday.
And analysts managed to find a silver lining in reports that were less positive, noting that while storm-related job losses kept rising and are now at 514,000, the increases are slowing. They viewed a bigger-than-expected drop in factory orders for September as a temporary setback rather than an indication of more serious problems in manufacturing.
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