Downturn in economic activity felt to be ending

So says the Federal Reserve anyway, though they did not give completely good news as to the economy making a complete turnaround, according to minutes from a meeting almost a month ago that were finally released from an August 11-12 meeting of the central bank's policymaking committee, top Fed officials agreed that improving economic data had "strengthened their confidence that the downturn in economic activity was ending," according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday.

But that confidence did not extend to the shape of the recovery. The officials also expected the economy to improve "only slowly during the second half of this year, and all saw it as still vulnerable to adverse shocks," the minutes said.

Ample evidence in the last few months has pointed to an economy that is expanding -- producing more goods and services. But the Fed minutes show that top officials at the central bank, like their private-sector counterparts, have simmering concerns about whether the improvement will be enough to steady the job market.

"Conditions in the labor market remained poor, and business contacts indicated that firms would be quite cautious in hiring when demand for their products picks up," the minutes said.