A couple of interesting data points from the folks at Gallup:

1) Energy producing states lead Gallup's Job Creation Index, a measure of the country's top job markets. The index is based on aggregated data on companies' hiring activities the first half of 2011. Gallup says three of these, North Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia, have been on its list of the 10 best state job markets since 2008.

2) Gallup's employment index, measuring the percentage of U.S. adults who are unemployed (9.0 percent) and underemployed (18.2). The second number is people out of work and those who are part-time but want to work full-time.

Here's how the two are linked: the energy sector, job creation and policy decisions that would let the first one drive the second.

We know jobs and the economy are on... more »

The debt ceiling debate drones on, the economy remains stuck and overseas, Greece is practically in default. Anyone else out there starving for some good economic news?

How about this: America's oil and natural gas companies continue showing strength despite a weak economy. That means well-paying jobs, revenues to governments and investment growth for millions of Americans - all combining for an economic contribution that challenges Washington's idea of stimulus.

Call it the energy stimulus: $476 billion in direct support to the economy in 2010 - roughly equal to 60 percent of the 2009 federal stimulus (which actually is being dispensed to the economy over a number of years). It's a stimulus that didn't need an act of Congress and which, with the right policies, can be repeated over and ov... more »