It seems, no matter what official measure is used in 2023 to judge the U.S. economy, the numbers look really good for consumers.

The latest positive news comes in the form of a historic milestone reached on the stock market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is an average of 30 of the largest U.S. companies—including IBM, Apple, Nike, Verizon, Walmart, and Walt Disney—surged to a record high on December 13, passing 37,000 for the first time.

It beat that record on December 14—and then hit another record (37,305) on Friday, December 15. On Monday, December 18, it continued to improve.

To give you a sense of the increase, the Dow was at 30,930 when President Biden was sworn in on January 21, 2021. Since then, it has climbed more than 6,000 points. Another stock index, the S&P 500, is now 1.2% away from its all-time closing high that was reached in January 2022.

There are several reasons for the growth. The U.S. GDP output of goods and services continues to rise, fueling faith in the world's largest economy. It rose a whopping 4.9% for the 3-month period ending in September—which is more than twice the GDP growth of the second quarter (2.1%). For comparison, the Chinese economy grew by 1.3 percent, just one-fourth as fast as the US in the third quarter.

Unemployment is low. Inflation also continued to edge downward last month as gas prices fell. Higher wages for US workers, one of the most critical post-pandemic measurements, created increased spending, which also fueled investor optimism.

Perhaps the biggest jolt for bullish investors came after seeing a statement from the Federal Reserve the previous Wednesday that said they might cut its interest rate next year.

Who knows where the market goes? But we wouldn't be surprised if it hit 40,000 in the near future.

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