by dakine01
Prediction: June Economic and Jobs Numbers Won’t Be Appreciably Better Than May
11:07 am in Uncategorized by dakine01
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I’m not an economist so this is a fairly easy prediction for me to make. I’m basing this prediction on how the weekly Initial Unemployment Claims have gone up this month (see here, here, and here plus tomorrow’s post when I write it). Or at least, the numbers have not dropped as much as anticipated. Either way, things are not improving.
Amazingly enough (economists claim to be surprised all the time, I get to claim actual surprise when something surprising really happens), there have been a few news articles from different outlets, pointing out some unpleasant economic truths. First up is this article from Monday’s (June 27) USA Today:
Whether the economic recovery in the U.S. can continue could depend on a single factor: consumer confidence. Confidence is important because consumers who are upbeat about prospects tend to spend more, driving corporate profits and job growth. Companies hire more employees, boosting spending, growth and confidence.…snip…
According to a monthly survey released last week by Consumer Reports, households that earn less than $50,000 have been extremely downbeat on the economy every month since the survey’s April 2008 launch. Such households make up half of the U.S. population. Meantime, affluent households — those that pull down $100,000 or more a year — have been feeling on average positive about the economy since February 2010.
The primary factor behind the disparity: jobs. Affluent households have seen little impact on job prospects overall. Meanwhile, low-income households have seen a net decline in jobs for 23 out of the past 24 months, according to the survey.
Please do click through and read the whole article as it offers a number of reasons besides those I’ve extracted to show how the affluent have benefited in this “recovery” while the rest of us have struggled.
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