8 signs of hope for the economy

Orders are starting to pick up. While reports from the Institute for Supply Management showed that the manufacturing sector failed to grow for the 15th straight month in April, its New Orders Index increased six percentage points to 47.2%, the highest level since August. The New Exports Orders Index increased 5 percentage points, to 44%.

"While this is a big step forward, there is still a large gap that must be closed before manufacturing begins to grow once again," said Norbert Ore, chair of the institute's survey committee, in a statement. "This is definitely a good start for the second quarter."

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