WASHINGTON — The strongest monthly home sales increase in a decade and an encouraging economic assessment from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke have provided new support for the hope that recovery from the worst recession in decades may be at hand.
Wall Street celebrated by pushing stocks and commodities higher Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged above 9,500 for the first time since November, and oil futures flirted with $75 a barrel before closing up 98 cents at $73.89, the highest settlement price of the year. The Dow rose 155.91, or 1.7%, to 9505.96, and the other big indexes gained more than 1.5%.
But Bernanke's rally-sparking reassurance disguises the reality that many of the most populous states -- such as California and Florida, long accustomed to serving as dynamos of recovery and growth -- may not see much cause for rejoicing any time soon.
That's because the recession's grip on the nation has been so varied from one region to another that recovery is likely to be uneven, economists say. Factors that helped make some states powerhouses in the past -- such as migration from other states -- may not work for them this time.
Apart from Texas, the nation's Southern economic heavyweights were among the hardest hit during the downturn, and the negative effects there may last for years. Trouble is likely to persist in the nation's industrial midsection as well.
In the good news column, the National Assn. of Realtors said Friday that sales of existing homes rose 7.2% in July, the fastest monthly gain since record-keeping began in 1999 and higher than analysts had expected. But housing resale activity fell 1.7% over the month in the West.
California bucked the drop in sales for the region. Sales of all types of homes were up 14.1% in July from the same month a year earlier, San Diego research firm MDA DataQuick reported Friday. The median home sales price in California also went up in July by 1.6% from June, to $250,000, but the price was still 21.4% below the July 2008 median price of $318,000.
Striking a sour note, data released by the Labor Department on Friday showed unemployment rose to 11.9% in California last month from 11.6% in June, while Florida's jobless rate stood at 10.7% in July -- and its June rate was revised upward to the same level.
Last month, California shed 35,800 payroll jobs and Florida more than 25,000; the two states have lost one-fifth of the 5.7 million jobs cut nationwide in the last 12 months.
