Taking the good with the bad

Does thinking about the economy have you down? Do you wince when you see a “Wall Street Journal?" Do you fear for the health of your favorite banker?

Well believe it or not, despite the economic meltdown and the now routine giant swings in the stock market (Wednesday’s massive sell-off marked the second biggest one-day point loss in history), there is actually some relatively good news coming down the pipe these days. Now remember, I said "relatively."

1) Oil is getting cheaper. On Thursday, oil dipped to the cheapest it’s been in 14 months and, after a summer of record high oil and gas prices, that’s a boon to the average consumer. On Wednesday, oil settled at $74.54 per barrel and last week Deutsche Bank issued a report suggesting oil may even fall as low as $60 a barrel. This is a double-edged sword, though: while it’s nice that it’ll be cheaper to fill your tank, oil prices are dropping because of producers’ worries about a global economic slowdown and decreased demand.

2) Prices didn’t rise in September. Bucking the upward trend for most of this year, consumer prices were flat in September. That’s because sinking gas, clothing, and car prices offset the jump in food and medical care prices. In August, prices even dipped. It’s a nice if short break for consumers. Again, though, there is a downside: weekly wages dropped 2.5 percent in September compared to a year ago, marking the 12th straight month in which wages sank.

3) Jobless claims declined. According to a report out on Thursday, fewer Americans filed new claimed for unemployment insurance than expected last week.  Claims also fell the week prior. Unfortunately, as ever, there is a bit of bad news here too: 2 weeks ago, jobless claims had spiked to the highest level since right after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

You have to take the good with the bad, I guess. Decreased production and falling prices indicate that we are indeed in the midst of an economic slowdown. But for now at least some of these stories indicate that hard-pressed consumers might be saving a couple of extra bucks here and there.