Feel good about your American economy!

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its measure of factory conditions in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region fell below forecasts but still showed decent growth.

Earlier, the government said weekly jobless claims fell by 29,000 in the latest week to 399,000, better than Wall Street had expected.

The Conference Board, a private research firm, said its index of leading indicators rose 0.4 percent in August, its fourth straight monthly gain.

Taken together, the reports added to evidence that the economic recovery is picking up steam, analysts said. The U.S. economy is expected to grow close to 6 percent in the third quarter.

U.S. stocks rally on economic data, bonds subdued