All three of the headlines below were released Thursday October 8th, 2009. This is good news for women business owners who focus on success as we go into the final stretch of 2009 and look to next year.

1) NEW YORK — The stock market resumed its rally after getting encouraging readings on two of the best gauges of the economy’s health: consumer spending and corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points Thursday after falling modestly the day before. The gains added to the market’s already steep climb for the week. Improving signals about the economy pushed the Dow up 244 points Monday and Tuesday, its best back-to-back advance since July.

Traders pounced on news that retailers last month had their first sales gains in more than a year. A closely watched gauge of sales at major retailers rose 0.1 percent for September. While still tepid, it was the first monthly rise in the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally since July 2008.

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2) WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of newly laid-off Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since early January, as layoffs eased a bit amid a fledgling economic recovery.

The fourth drop in new claims in five weeks is a sign the labor market is slowly healing. But employers are reluctant to hire new workers and the unemployment rate is expected to keep climbing well into next year.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for unemployment insurance dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 521,000, better than analysts expected and down from 554,000 the previous week.

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3) NEW YORK (AP) – The nation’s stores saw their first sales gain in 14 months in September, a sign of life from shoppers that fuels some hope for the holiday shopping season.

A late Labor Day and delayed school openings helped boost back-to-school sales in September. And stores’ figures are looking better as they are compared last September when spending plummeted amid the ballooning financial meltdown.

But analysts dissecting the figures say they feel encouraged by Thursday’s reports even as they acknowledge that business still remains weak and consumers tight-fisted.

Denise Michaels is a marketing mentor, trainer and author of the business bestseller, “Testosterone-Free Marketing.” Find out more about her at her websites below:

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