In case you haven’t noticed, the economy is actually getting better. Noticeably better. Yes, it’s been painfully slow in coming, as we continue to tack against strong headwinds coming from Europe and the Middle East as well as the strong ebb tide created by the wind-down of fiscal stimulus. And certainly the recovery has been halting and uneven. Read full article > >

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Steven Pearlstein: Signs the economy has shifted in the right direction

Sanjay Wagle was a venture capitalist and Barack Obama fundraiser in 2008, rallying support through a group he headed known as Clean Tech for Obama . Shortly after Obama’s election, he left his California firm to join the Energy Department, just as the administration embarked on a massive program to stimulate the economy with federal investments in clean-technology firms. Read full article > >

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Federal funds flow to clean-energy firms with Obama administration ties

With an end-of-the-month deadline approaching, President Obama called on Congress to approve a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut, warning that allowing the measure to expire could slow the nation’s economic recovery. Read full article > >

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Obama renews pressure for payroll tax cut even as GOP leaders agree to compromise

Barack Obama challenges Congress to keep the recovery going as new data shows unemployment down to its lowest rate in three years.

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Obama urges ‘keep recovery going’

Signaling strong recovery.

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Economy Grows at 2.8 Percent

This post has been updated. Just over a year ago, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) sat outside a Tucson Safeway meeting with constituents. A hail of bullets ended the meeting, killing six people and greviously injuring Giffords. Read full article > >

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Gabrielle Giffords finishes ‘Congress On Your Corner’ meeting

In a video released online, Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona said she was stepping down to focus on her recovery after being shot in the head in an assassination attempt last year.

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Gabrielle Giffords Says She’s Leaving the House

Ms. Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, announced she would leave her House seat to focus on her recovery from a shooting attack last year.

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The Caucus: Gabrielle Giffords Says She Will Resign From Congress

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously wounded in a mass shooting in Arizona last year, announced Sunday that she will step down from her congressional seat this week to focus on her recovery. “I don’t remember much from that horrible day. But I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” Giffords said in a video posted on her campaign Web site. “I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week.” Read full article > >

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords retiring from Congress

Will focus on recovery.

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Giffords to Resign From Congress

As President Obama prepares to give his third State of the Union address next week, he faces a dispirited and polarized electorate that is sharply divided over his record, worried about the pace of the economic recovery and deeply pessimistic about the country’s trajectory. Read full article > >

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Electorate is sharply split over Obama, poll finds

Kit LaCroix credits two things with her recovery from a psychological breakdown that became the bleakest chapter of her life: the steady love of Bennett Mace and the rise of the Occupy movement. LaCroix had been happy in Chicago, where she failed to finish art school but found work waiting tables in a pub. She tamed the social anxiety that first appeared during college and relished the banter with customers as much as the solitude of her studio apartment. Then the recession hit, her tips dried up and for two months in a row she couldn’t make rent. Read full article > >

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On Love: ‘I see in you the fire of life’

On Friday, we got the December jobs number: +200,000. That’s good, but not good enough. I posted a graph from the Hamilton Project showing that, at that rate, the labor market wouldn’t recover till 2024. Read full article > >

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If we add 200,000 jobs a month, will recovery take 7 years or 12 years?

The United States added a robust 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said, in a sign that the economic recovery was gaining momentum.

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U.S. Economy Gains Steam as 200,000 Jobs Are Added

It began with such promise. This time a year ago, forecasters were racing to upgrade their outlooks for what 2011 would hold. All the gears seemed to be locking into place for what could finally be the year that an economic recovery began in earnest. Three percent growth seemed like a sure bet; 4 percent seemed more than plausible. Read full article > >

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2011 was a bust — could 2012 be better?