This month, research compiled by the Conference Board indicates that the economy is making steady gains – measuring positive growth in October at the fastest pace in eight months. A string of better-than-expected economic reports this month - their index of leading economic indicators surged 0.9 per cent last month - and has led some analysts to revise up their forecasts for growth in 2012.

The jump reflected gains in nine of the index's 10 components. Leading the way: a surge in permits for home construction; a narrower gap between short- and long-term interest rates that suggested less concern about inflation; a recovery in stock prices; and growth in the U.S. money supply. Furthermore, the US government reported its 13th straight month of job growth, showing slow but continuous improvement in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits for the first time. The number fell to 388,000, the fewest since April. Still, the additional jobs were fewer than the roughly 125,000 that are needed each month just to keep up with population growth.

"This was a very positive reading for the leading indicators," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "The economy seems to be holding its own."

Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics, said the string of positive readings suggests "the economy should continue to experience at least moderate growth over the next six to nine months."