Now that the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.9 percent, can we breathe a sigh of relief?LV Congressman Charlie Dent is encouraged, and has issued this statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) February Employment Report:
“The February Employment Report reveals unemployment has fallen below 9% for the first time since April 2009, providing Americans a long awaited opportunity to feel optimistic about the nation’s economic recovery. Most promising is news that this improvement was driven by the private sector, which added 222,000 jobs in February, including 33,000 vital manufacturing positions. While the report indicates our economy is beginning the long process of recovery, my colleagues in Washington and I cannot become complacent. We must continue to advance rational policies that encourage further economic growth and job creation, modernize our nation’s onerous tax code, reign in excessive federal spending and open markets for American producers.”
What bothers me is that the real estate industry - a canary in the mine of our economy - is still dead. And according to The New York Times, the average length of unemployment is the highest it's ever been.
Don`t be mislead by this statistic...so many people have dropped out of the official labor count that this number is more like 16 or 18 per cent. At best this is a peek around the corner--nothing more.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!! This fucking economy is in the shitcan. We are all screwed!!!
ReplyDeleteThe numbers don't add up. How can the rate drop with fewer employed and filings increased? Things do not seem to be getting better. My wife lost a 22-year manager's job two years ago. She collected for seven weeks before taking two, part-time jobs, which she still works today in lieu of a single, better paying job. The two jobs provide 52% of her former salary, and no benefits of any kind. I believe she's what's called, "underemployed." There are lots like her. Our only debt is our home. Its modesty is the reason we've been able to hold on. There are no large purchases or investments in our foreseeable future as we focus on saving for a retirement that won't burden anybody. Retirement has been pushed back, of course. We'll be fine because we never overextend and always figure it out. But our outlook has changed dramatically. No complaints here. But I know there are lots more like us.
ReplyDeleteTake into account how many baby boomers are retiring every month. I think you'll find the numbers fit with just how many people are either no longer looking for work and how many jobs are "created" by the private sector.
ReplyDeleteLets see, real estate is DEAD. There is virtually no measurable new housing being constructed to show any type of recovery. Oh... did we forget about the price of gasoline??? Wait until that hits $4 a gallon and all bets are off. Double dip recession time my friends and take that to the bank. The other day it cost me $55 to fill up my 16 gallon SUV and both my wife and I are gainfully employed and make good money. I remember when only about 9 years ago when that SUV cost $18 to fill up and the economy was doing quite well. With gasoline increases comes increases in goods and services. People will simply start holding back again and sit on what cash they have. There is no silver lining in this economy, yet.
ReplyDeleteYep. Filling up makes a big dent to those of us with lower incomes. At the current rate, I'll soon be losing money to cover meetings for Bethlehem Press.
ReplyDeleteEveryone here seems to be on the same page but the government. Their employment numbers just don't add up and everyone knows it.
ReplyDeleteReal estate is graveyard dead. We've had a ready to move in, 1800 sq. ft brick house with 3 bedrooms, 9 total rooms plus bath, new appliances and furnace, redecorated, in a very nice section of Nazareth for $140K and can't move it.
Since almost all goods and services depend on gas vehicles, all costs will continue to rise. Seniors better get a huge cost of living increase next year (none for 2 yrs) which will only add to the deficit.
Yes, there are plenty of jobs BUT...those jobs pay crap and most people who may want them would have to work 3 of those jobs to live even a reasonable life.
ReplyDeleteNow what kind of life is that?
Things need to change drastically, the price of things now days is crazy.
Yeah things are getting better...NOT!
Bill sounds like a nice house. I love Nazareth, any chance the property is listed on multi-list or in the paper.
ReplyDeleteAny other details? I can types in Nazareth residential and the price point you mention.
Annon
ReplyDeleteYes, it's in there.
Here's how far we have to go. Obviously it is not time for the government to pull back its support for the economy, like Charlie Dent wants to do. This is no time to be reducing the amount of nominal spending in the economy.
ReplyDeleteHouse prices still have another 10-15% to fall to get back to the long-term trend. The government needs to do more to push for mortgage modifications, preferably cramdown.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteWhat you're talking about does not sound to me like support for the economy. Prices have to drop another 10-15%? Bankers are to be forced to accept modifications? I can see that in some instances, but it should not be the norm.
Under your world view, we should be paying $12 per gallon in gas right now. I think you may just get your wish, and it is going to slam us right back into a recession, while simultaneously causing quite a bit of inflation.
Don't mind Jon Geeting, he takes his marching orders and talking points from George Soros. You know, that billionaire who thinks America is "the problem" and needs to be destroyed by devaluation of the dollar.
ReplyDeleteWhat is he promising you Geeting? Are you going to be part of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat?
Sounds to me like you consider yourself part of the bourgeoisie intellectual elites, when in reality you're nothing more than a kid who spouts off absurd ideas he has been fed. In short, the puppet masters call your type a "useful idiot".
Yeah, I can speak Marxist ideology too. And I know you have never met a price increase on others you didn't like. Anything to break the middle class so that you can make up rules and regulations to "keep us in our place" because you are somehow smarter and "know what is best for us".
As far as jobs, if you cut taxes on businesses the jobs will come back faster than ever. The Republicans are going to be cutting a whole lot in the coming months. Because if the government doesn't have the money, it can't spend it!
Government bookkeeping.
ReplyDeleteThey tell you things are improving when they are not. They tell you they will give you money when they have none. When simple math exposes their fraud, they create a new way to "count".
Geeting, his benefactors, the in the tank media, and the political elite on both sides keep selling this snakeoil, and the lazy and stupid suck it up like a sponge.
Keep your eye on mortgage rates. They will skyrocket in the coming months as anti-inflation action is implemented. If you think the housing market has hit bottom, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Would someone please read a newspaper to Geeting? There's no more money.
ReplyDeleteThis is what 8 years of a completely irresponsible administration can do. Eliminate the middle class and spend Trillions on your war mongerning friends. Then blame the demiocratds because they didn't bail you out in 2 years. Thanks Bush and Cheney. I hope you shit in bed.
ReplyDelete