The American economy appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength. Firms have begun to hire and consumer spending seems to be accelerating, so it is surprising that many commentators, whether economists or politicians, seem to doubt that such a thing could possibly be happening.

Why is good news being received with such doubt? There are, I think, a number of reasons for the glum outlook that are unrelated to the actual economic data.

(READ the column by Floyd Norris in New York Times)

Thanks to David G. for submitting the story!

Airlines with fewer flights and fewer passengers have translated into better performance for the customer.

For the second consecutive year, the performance of the nation’s leading carriers improved, according to the annual national Airline Quality Rating. It was the third best overall score in the 19 years researchers have tracked the performance of airlines.

Though coal still provides the majority of China’s power, there’s good news about a greener future: New official Chinese records show that the nation’s renewable energy capacity is now growing faster than its coal plants.

Through the end of 2009 180 GW of new power capacity was under construction. Renewables outpaced coal by some 16 GW. All told, low-carbon energy sources (hydro, nuclear, and renewables) will account for 26% of China’s power capacity, by the end of 2010.

(READ More in Treehugger)

One barometer of the economic health of American cities is the total value of the goods and services produced in a metropolitan area.

According to the Brookings Institution report, many dynamic cities have already exceeded economic output levels seen before the recession.

Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, 28 of them regained their pre-recession levels at the end of 2009, posting new highs in output.

Worldwide, investors put $1.9 billion into clean tech startups in the first three months of 2010. That is an 83% increase from the same quarter last year and a 29% increase from the fourth quarter of 2009. Additionally, the number of deals hit a record high.

Electric car-related startups and solar technology startups received the most investment. The results come from a survey of investments made in 180 companies from North America, Europe, Israel, India, and China.

(READ More from Reuters)

The nation’s retailers reported their strongest monthly sales growth in a decade on Thursday, with robust gains in virtually every category of merchandise and every type of store.

Analysts had lofty expectations for March, but the results released Thursday handily beat the 6.3 percent increase they had predicted.

(READ the report in the New York Times)