Google is on fire.

From the Washington Post:

Google Inc. appears to have regained its financial stride after wobbling through most of 2009.

The Internet search leader strutted its stuff in the fourth quarter, producing a profit that blew past analyst estimates while revenue growth accelerated from a leisurely stroll to a quickening gallop.

The results released late Thursday were driven by an upturn in Internet advertising, the main source of Google’s income. More marketing generally coincides with an improving economy, or at least a feeling that things are getting better.

Google also is benefiting from media trends that are shifting more advertising from newspapers and broadcasters to the Internet.

“We are clearly not in a recession right now, but the pace of recovery is different in different markets,” Patrick Pichette, Google’s chief financial officer, said in a Thursday interview.

The United States so far appears to be bouncing back from the recession quicker than Europe, Pichette said.

I hope that’s true. We’re not seeing the jobs yet, at least not in the Chicagoland area.

Here’s to all those who are still out of work…

Kudos to Google.