Even with the Commerce Department’s preliminary estimate on Wednesday of extremely slow growth in the fourth quarter of last year, the evidence of an impending recession is mixed.

Indeed, many economists estimate that the economy may have added about 100,000 jobs in January  a big improvement from the nearly stagnant pace in December of 18,000 jobs.

Indeed, the ADP monthly survey of job creation, released on Wednesday, estimated that the nation added 130,000 private-sector jobs in January. Though the ADP survey often clashes with the Labor Department’s monthly employment report, which is due out on Friday, the results prompted many economists to raise their estimates of job growth in January.

The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that orders for all durable goods  big-ticket items like commercial aircraft and auto parts  jumped 5.2 percent last month. Excluding orders for transportation goods, which are volatile from month to month, orders climbed 2.6 percent, the first increase since September.

Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and other Fed officials are already under fire from two directions. Many analysts on Wall Street complain that the central bank has moved too slowly in response to signs of a faltering economy. They point to a plunge in housing that does not seem to have hit bottom, slowing growth in retail sales and tight credit.

But a significant minority of economists argues that policy makers have let themselves be unnecessarily alarmed by panicky swings in the stock market. If the central bank props up the economy with easy money, they warn, the result will be higher inflation in the future.

Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corporation, a Cleveland bank, is skeptical that the economy is headed for a recession, despite the common assumption that it is. “Few seem to take seriously the prospect that we are not going into a recession,” said Mr. DeKaser, who cites the latest labor market data, showing fewer weekly claims for unemployment benefits and encouraging layoff numbers, which suggest to him that the nation has added a hefty number of jobs in January.