Those looking at a very fragile European economy may consider our headline premature. Nevertheless, the U.S. economy generally, and the fastener industry specifically, are steadily, if slowly, gaining strength. An infusion of jobs would sustain and increase the rate of economic growth, but on the surface, it appears that will evolve slowly, too. Nationally, the unemployment rate is expected to hold close to 10 percent well into 2011. In addition to jobs, there are two other aspects of the economy that will continue to confuse and obscure the picture: confidence and inventories. Before getting to the nuts and bolts of our improving situation, let's take a quick look at all three factors.
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