Miller, 32, who teaches at Westmeade Elementary, took advantage of an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit to close on a two-story Bellevue home in August.
"I was looking for some way to help with the down payment," Miller said. "Without having that, it would have created a hole … in my savings."
Massive government aid that ranged from the tax credit for new homebuyers to rebates for auto purchases fueled much of the third-quarter growth spurt and drove the U.S. gross domestic product up 3.5 percent from July through September.
It was the first time the economy had grown at all since the spring of 2008. Now the question becomes: Can the good news last?
Questions remain about how freely consumers will spend in the months ahead, heading into the Christmas season and beyond.
President Barack Obama called the report welcome news but added, "We have a long way to go to fully restore our economy." Other observers think growth will slow from its current pace entering next year.
The National Association for Business Economics thinks growth will slow to a 2.4 percent pace in the current October-December quarter. It expects a 2.5 percent growth rate in the first three months of next year, and some other economists believe the pace will be closer to 1 percent.
"Even if we've turned the corner, we know it's a long way before we're completely recovered," Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "You can't have a national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent and not be deeply troubled."
The rebound did give the stock market a positive jolt on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 200 points to close at 9,962.58, up 2 percent on the day.
A number of Nashville-area business owners say they see the beginnings of recovery, although challenges remain.
(2 of 3)Jobless rate dips in most of TennesseeReal Estate Outlook: Mixed Signals
