The economy is great, the economy is crummy

You really wonder what drives reporters to select what they say about a news event. A case in point is today's release of economic data by the Commerce Department. That's the news event. Here's the first paragraph of the AP report by Jeannine Aversa on this event.

WASHINGTON - New-home sales for all of 2005 climbed to an all-time high, marking the fifth year in a row of record sales.

Now, there's nothing really new in that piece of information. It's been known for quite awhile that new-home sales for the year would be higher than the previous year. But, the report goes on throughout it's entire length to extol the great housing news, despite the fact that existing home sales have fallen for three months in a row.

Meanwhile, another AP report has the real new news from the Commerce Department's release:

The economy grew at only a 1.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the slowest pace in three years, amid belt-tightening by consumers facing spiraling energy costs.

I suppose that home builders may prefer to focus on the first report. I also suppose that Bush would prefer us to focus on the first report. But, I wonder what led Ms. Aversa to focus on the housing news.