The good news, as reported by the Federal Reserve Board survey of business conditions, is that “on balance, national economic activity continued to rise” in September and at the beginning of this month. The bad news is that the rise was only “at [a] modest pace.” Translated into political language, that means that the growth is insufficiently rapid to make a dent in the 9.6 percent unemployment rate that is adding to the country’s unhappiness with the incumbent politicians who have spent trillions in the hope of turning “modest” into “rapid.”

Manufacturing activity is up, according to some reports but not according to others; demand for financial services is somewhere between stable and modestly up; and consumers are spending a bit more but only on well-priced necessities. Construction is falling in response to weakness in the housing commercial property markets. Only farmers seem to be reaping what they sowed — worldwide demand is generally good, crop yields are high, and prices for commodities such as corn are moving up.