We've been told that lower taxes and more "growth" equates to higher wages and more jobs (known as "trickle-down economics"). But since the depth of the Great Recession, even though stock prices and corporate profits are much higher, a lot more people are "not in the labor force" (and just aren't being counted in the official unemployment rate) — and wages are still down (not to mention, more people are also working part-time and temp jobs).
The August state employment statistics shows the unemployment situation for states and regions is little changed from July. From July 18 states lost jobs while 32 states gained them. The national unemployment rate was 5.1% and 29 states showed an unemployment decrease while in 10 states the unemployment rate went up.
The Federal Funds rate is still effectively zero. Surprise. Since 2008 the Fed has keep interest rates an unprecedented effective zero, giving a free ride to big debt and Wall Street. The phrase that pays from the Fed is a highly accommodative policy.
The Consumer Price Index decreased by -0.1% for August on energy price declines Gasoline alone dropped -4.1% for the month. Inflation without food or energy prices considered increased 0.1% for the month. From a year ago overall CPI has increased 0.2%, which is very low, yet without energy and food considered, prices have increased 1.8%.
The latest jobs report shows that, once again, over a quarter of a million people have dropped out of the labor force. So should we celebrate Labor Day for just being lucky enough to have a job — any job at all?
The prominent economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz (and a Fellow of the progressive Roosevelt Institute) says: “An economy that doesn’t deliver for most of its citizens is a failed economy.”
Are we witnessing the corruption of central banks? Are we observing the money-creating powers of central banks being used to drive up prices in the stock market for the benefit of the mega-rich?
According to Pew Research, this year the Millennial generation (ages 18 to 34 in 2015) is projected to surpass the Baby Boom generation (ages 51 to 69) as the nation’s largest living generation — with 75.3 million Millennials vs. 74.9 million Boomers. The Gen X population (ages 35 to 50 in 2015) is also projected to outnumber the Boomers by 2028. Where will Social Security be for them when they retire?
The Federal Reserve Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization report has good news and bad news. The bad news is industrial production dropped by a hefty -0.4% for August. The better news is July was revised upward by 0.3 percentage points to a 0.9% blow out increase.
Do you remember when real reporters existed? Those were the days before the Clinton regime concentrated the media into a few hands and turned the media into a Ministry of Propaganda, a tool of Big Brother. The false reality in which Americans live extends into economic life.
The BLS JOLTS report shows once again record high job openings. While Wall Street cheers and proclaims the long bad jobs market over, not so fast. Actual hiring still has not recovered to even the 2007 prerecession levels. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey shows there are 1.4 official unemployed per job opening for July 2015.
For the past 40 years, our political leaders have not only allowed, but have deliberately effectuated economic polices that have crammed most of the profits generated by ordinary working people into the pockets of those at the very tippy-top of the income ladder — by conspiring against organized labor, giving preferential tax breaks to the very wealthy, and by allowing bad trade deals to offshore our best jobs.
Our July trade deficit fell by 7.3% from June as the value of our exports rose and the value of our imports fell. The Census report on our international trade in goods and services for July indicated that our seasonally adjusted goods and services trade deficit fell by $3.3 billion to $41.9 billion in July from a June deficit which was revised from $43.8 billion to $45.2 billion.
Not everything Donald Trump has to say should be swept under the rug; some things deserve to be heard. Many people might think he's a "bad guy", but he does know how politics work.
The August unemployment report shows steady as she goes sorts of statistics. Yet, the report is really a mixed bag. The unemployment rate dropped two tenths of a percentage point to be 5.1%. The labor participation rate remained the same, 62.6%, and hasn't changed for three months. Once again over a quarter of a million people dropped out of the labor force.
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