Good news - well, for some people: The Federal Reserve Board raised the federal funds rate by a quarter point today, but noted some good momentum for the economy:

The Committee believes that, even after this action, the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and, coupled with robust underlying growth in productivity, is providing ongoing support to economic activity. After moderating earlier this year partly in response to the substantial rise in energy prices, output growth appears to have regained some traction, and labor market conditions have improved modestly. Despite the rise in energy prices, inflation and inflation expectations have eased in recent months.

Growing job market: check.
Inflation under control: check.
Growth in productivity: check.

It's looking more and more like the "soft patch" in July was very closely related to the rise in energy prices - a temporary spike that's now settling back down after the summer.

Elsewhere in the news, Sen. John Kerry has decided to abandon discussion of the economy in favor of talking about Iraq through Election Day.