economic output

According to Forbes.com, the Austin-Round Rock area tied for first on a list of large metropolitan areas where the recession is easing.

The report listed Austin and Washington D.C. as the two top cities in terms of economic recovery.

The report considered a number of factors including local economic output, job growth and real estate industry trends.

While the national unemployment rate hovers at 9.7%, the comparable rate in Austin is 7.6% (up from 7% a month ago).

Washington D.C. has a 6.2% unemployment rate.

Some welcome news for the White House, and the numbers could be even higher.

First, from the Wall Street Journal:

The Congressional Budget Office late Monday said it estimates that the federal stimulus package sustained between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs in the third quarter, and raised gross domestic product by 1.2 to 3.2 percentage points higher than it would have been without the program.

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