In a late-November CNN poll, only 24% of Americans felt that an economic recovery was underway; 39% felt the U.S. was still in a downturn. Perception aside, economic indicators out in December showed an economy clearly on the way back. Stocks finished 2013 with a flourish and the jobless rate fell to a 59-month low. Read more in our January economic update.
There are some changes for Social Security in 2014. Here is a list of what is changing in 2014, and what is not.
Will 2013 go in the books as the best year for U.S. stocks since the mid-1990s? It may. At the end of November, the S&P 500 was already up 26.62% YTD. November brought more signals of an improving economy. Early in the month, the Labor Department stated that 204,000 new jobs were created in October, better than the average monthly gain of 190,000 during the past year. November also brought the federal government’s first estimate of Q3 GDP – a surprisingly good 2.8%. Read more in our December economic update.