Stimulated or not stimulated, according to a close scrutinization of the government's website, recovery.gov, not only has the stimulus created new jobs but also new congressional districts and possible a state... or two.

Good economic news, relatively speaking, caused the mortgage rates to drop this week. It will be interesting to watch rates next week as today's jobless numbers should increase optimism.

There is a good sign that U.S. employers are not willing to let their employees go. The number of newly unemployed people who used the unemployment insurance in the United States fell sharply last week, the Labor Department reported reported this morning. The agency noted that initial jobless claims, the applications for unemployment benefits, fell to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 for the week ending August 1. The figure is compared with 588,000 the previous week.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testified this morning and didn’t really bring to light any unexpected news about our economy. Labor markets are still weak and he intends to keep interest rates subdued for as long as possible without encouraging inflation. The housing markets need every possible incentive to encourage purchase activity.

Despite signs of economic improvement, unemployment continues to rise in the United States and could cost the Democrats.

Current mortgage rates are hampering government efforts for economic recovery. Following a drop in mortgage rates early this spring, potential buyers have been pushed away by rising numbers. The Feds announcement in March to buy more than $1 trillion in mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped push down borrowing rates. Now with a rise in Treasury yields, these efforts are being scuttled.

Several pieces of economic data have hit the tape this morning worth mentioning, most of them pointing to a slowdown in the rate of deterioration in the economy. The good news is that Jobless claims sink by 24,000.

U.S. President Barack Obama is pledging to accelerate the pace of federal spending to create more than 600,000 jobs in the next few months.

The recession we find ourselves in is unpleasant but it is not dire. It is a long overdue correction of an over buoyant market, fueled by ignorance, greed, excessive borrowing, vested interests and foolishness. Equally, the reaction of most of the population to the onset of the recession has been extreme and is making the problem worse than it needs to be.

Good news, in that the pace of layoffs slowed in April. Companies cut 539,000 jobs, the fewest in six months. Bad news, in that the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9%, the highest since late 1983.

Nearly $600 million dollars is available for the state of Wisconsin to save jobs and reform the economy, says Recovery.gov. To be more precise Recovery.gov reports that more than $587 million in recovery money for Wisconsin's State Stabilization Funds.