The housing market and manufacturing output are showing signs of stabilization or improvement in many parts of the country, but consumer spending and hiring isn’t budging, according to reports by the Labor Department and Federal Reserve released Wednesday.

“You are in that period where the recession is over but you don’t have job growth. And until we get job growth, nobody is going to believe the recession is over,” John Canally, an economist for LPL Financial in Boston, said in a Wall Street Journal article.

The unemployment rate tops 10 percent in 14 states, according to the Labor Department.

While the business climate is getting better, the report also noted that the commercial real estate market is still weak. Regional banks haven’t freed up business lending, so many empty storefronts remain vacant.

Cities with federal projects funded by the federal stimulus bill, such as Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis and Dallas, are the only areas reporting an increase in commercial real estate activity, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Tags: business lending, commercial real estate market, Consumer spending, federal projects, federal reserve, federal stimulus bill, hiring, housing market, Labor Department, manufacturing output, regional banks, unemployment rate

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