Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts

Monday, February 4, 2013

Stop and Go Economy


Markets are spinning downward today, with the DJIA off about 150 points. All 10 S&P sectors are down, too. Even Wal-Mart Stores dove nearly 2%.

Does this mean the rush to buy stocks has ended?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Economic Recovery?

The media tells us that the economy is recovering. However, the average number of jobs added over the past four years is 151,000 people per month, and GDP is averaging 2.2%.
The average number of new entrants into the workforce each month is 125,000 to 150,000. GDP needs to grow at greater than 3% to create enough jobs to get us out of this malaise. In addition, the GDP growth is an illusion created by Federal Reserve policies.

The question: When will we see an economic recovery that helps the middle class family in America?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Economy to Nowhere

Currently, the DJIA is down more than 200 points today; 130.55 points yesterday, and last week was a bust.

The price of a gallon of gas is $4.05 at the nearby gas station.

This does not look good.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Economic Recovery? For Whom?


I heard a woman in the grocery store this morning saying that she didn’t have enough money to buy gas to get to work next week. That’s because regular gas now costs $3.99 per gallon. In June of 2009, consumer reports stated, “The national gasoline average is now about a $1.42 below the price this time last year.”

This means that since the recession ended, the price of gas rose 280%. This is hurting those who can least afford it: the working poor.

It’s time to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, open up domestic drilling and work on alternative sources of energy that are at least two to three decades in the future.

Although recent indicators of spending are up, savings dropped. This indicates the numbers do not reflect a strong recovery. These high gas prices have the potential to create a drag on the economy’s meager recovery. The number below indicate how pathetic this so-called recovery has been for the ordinary people.

June 2005 employment: 141,638 civilians employed
March 2007 employment: 146,254 civilians employed
June 2009 employment: 140,196 civilians employed (end of recession)
February 2012 employment: 142,065 civilians employed
(Source Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Don’t these pathetic job numbers reflect the need for economic policy changes to help the ordinary worker?