After raising to a 26-year high of 9.5% in June, Friday’s unemployment number show a unexpected decline. The Labor Department reports that U.S. employment fell to 9.4% in July. Still, the U.S. economy is not in recovery mood as employers laid off 247,000 jobs in July and part of the decline in unemployment figures could be due to the fact that many people stopped looking for work at which they are no longer calculated.

One might expect President Obama to tout the seemingly good news and that his near $800B stimulus is the cause, but thus far the president has not issued a statement. That is because the White House still expects unemployment to hit 10% this year and is negotiating with Congress a new spending package that will offer more unemployment insurance.

Although a full recovery is not currently present, the economy does appear to be turning around. The GDP only contracted 1% in the second quarter; less than expected. Most economist new predict growth of 3% in the third quarter. Car sales are up 15% [a lot due to the government’s “cash-for-clunkers” program] and manufacturing at its highest level since August 2008. And house values - the cause of the economic recession - are starting to stabilize after months of chronic falls. House prices fell just .2% between April and May; the lowest fall in two years.

All this is good news. But the White House does not want to jump the gun lest the news get worse before it gets better. Obama has already come under strong criticism for the lack of visible affect his stimulus has had. For the record, only a fraction of the stimulus money - about 15% - has even been spent.