That was the picture sketched Wednesday by government data showing an economy growing, however slowly.
And it was reinforced by a statement later in the day from the Federal Reserve, which pledged to hold interest rates at a record low to drive down unemployment and sustain the economic recovery.
The Fed noted that the economy is growing, and it pointed to a slowing pace of layoffs nationally.
Still, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues gave no signal that they're considering raising rates anytime soon, which have been kept at virtually zero for bank-to-bank lending.
They noted that consumer spending remains sluggish, the job market weak, wage growth slight and credit tight. Companies are still wary of hiring, the Fed board said.
Separately, the Fed has helped keep mortgage rates down by spending $1.25 trillion to buy mortgage-backed securities.
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