NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Jobless recovery is a term that may at long last be going out of vogue ... at least that's the word from economists who are taking some of the latest employment indicators at face value.

Until recently job growth has been somewhat spotty, especially compared to GDP which has been growing close to 4 percent a quarter annualized. The excuse: high productivity and nervous CEOs, which make for as little hiring as possible.

But the weekly jobless claims have come down to a new range that is much closer to 300K than to 325K or 350K where they used to be. And the Conference Board's Help-Wanted Index (measures column inches of help-wanted ads in newspapers as a gauge of hiring) had a nice move up in January, hitting its highest level in about two years and posting its fastest monthly advance in six years.

Good news for workers and good news for retailers, although it remains to be seen how the inflation-wary Federal Reserve reacts. One thing recent testimony from Fed chief Alan Greenspan and Fed minutes have shown is that the Fed is nervous, figuring that if companies are hiring more workers, higher wages and higher prices can't be far behind.

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-- Kathleen Hays is economics correspondent for CNN and contributes to Lou Dobbs Tonight.