More emerging data is signaling that the economy is in the early stages of recovery from a long, hard recession. The second estimate of third quarter gross domestic product (GDP), based on more complete data than what was available for the advance estimate issued last month, showed that GDP advanced 2.8 percent from the second quarter at a seasonally adjusted, annual rate.

While down from the 3.5 percent reported in the advance estimate, this was the first rise in this measure after four quarters of decline.

Residential construction, which has been a drag on GDP since the first quarter of 2006, subtracting roughly 1 percent growth from overall GDP each quarter (on an annualized, seasonally adjusted basis) on average for the last three and a half years, contributed a half percentage point of growth to overall GDP growth. This is good news for those in the landscape industry, which is directly affected by residential construction.

Meanwhile, total residential construction employment fell 3,200 in November, the smallest monthly decline in that measure since the loss of 2,000 construction jobs in November 2006. However, the unemployment rate for construction (which includes both residential and commercial construction) rose to 19.4 percent in November from 18.7 percent in October.