May 29

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The U.S. economy shrank slightly less than initially estimated at a 5.7 percent pace at the start of 2009 as the recession lumbered into the new year, according to a government report released Friday that hinted the recession might be…

In new signs that the recession may be ebbing, orders for big-ticket manufactured goods rose by 1.9 percent and the number of new jobless claims fell, although the number continuing to receive unemployment remained at the highest level since 1967.

At the end of last year, "Joe Claus":http://www.joeclaus.com was working at a small electronics company in Silicon Valley doing photography, marketing and design. And then he got laid off. "I was pissed," he said. But there was an unforeseen upside…