Karen Dynan: There are several signs that consumer confidence is increasing, and holiday spending has been a bright spot. But overall weakness in the economy, ongoing uncertainty in the housing market and the financial turmoil in the eurozone all continue to cast a shadow, and it’s too early to say we’re out of the woods. [...]

May 14 (Bloomberg) — Giada Giani, an economist at Citigroup Global Markets, talks with Bloomberg’s Andrea Catherwood about the impact of public spending cuts on the Spanish and Portugese economies.