RSS Feed
Loading ...
WASHINGTON (AP) – The bruised economy limped through the first quarter, growing at just a 0.6 percent pace as housing and credit problems forced people and businesses alike to hunker down.
The country’s economic growth during January through March was the same as in the final three months of last year, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The statistic did not meet what economists consider the definition of a recession, which is a contraction of the economy. This means that although the economy is stuck in a rut, it is still managing to grow, even if slightly.
NOW HIRING: Federal, state and local governments employing new workers at fastest pace in 6 years…
Federal, state and local governments are hiring new workers at the fastest pace in six years, helping offset job losses in the private sector.
Governments added 76,800 jobs in the first three months of 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
That’s the biggest jump in first-quarter hiring since a boom in 2002 that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks. By contrast, private companies collectively shed 286,000 workers in the first three months of 2008. That job loss has led many economists to declare the country is in a recession.
Job numbers for April, out Friday, will show if the trend is continuing. Some economists say a government hiring binge could soften a recession in the short term.
“Government jobs are an important cushion for the economy when the private sector falters,” says North Carolina State University economist Michael Walden.
But the job expansion could later cause financial problems for governments that are spending too much.
“More hiring has nothing to do with good government or economic policy,” says economist Kenneth Brown, research director at the Rio Grande Foundation in Albuquerque. “It has everything to do with government being slow to react to economic change.”
April 30, 2008 - 08:44 AM on April 30th, 2008
facepalmslap
May 1, 2008 - 08:18 AM on May 1st, 2008
Not to say people aren’t hurtin’, and some are hurtin’ more than others, but it still ain’t a recession.
May 1, 2008 - 10:18 AM on May 1st, 2008
Sasha,
They’ve changed the measuring sticks of the economy since the early 80’s (the way inflation is figured) and the 90’s (switch from GNP to GDP). These give relatively inaccuarte economic figures.
By the standards of of the 70’s, we would be at 11% inflation now instead of the 4%+ that is now indicated (this save 7% on payme4nts by the governement that are inflationary adjusted such as SS and medicare). GDP allows inflation to bloat economic growth figures.
Please, don’t buy into this false hype. Shore up your stores. I am using my “economic stimulus” check to buy a freezer and a side of beef, as the investment in food will bring a better return than the stock market or savings accounts.
We are firmly within the grasp of a recession at the moment.
May 1, 2008 - 10:38 AM on May 1st, 2008
“the investment in food will bring a better return than the stock market or savings accounts”
Really, because I have made plenty in the market over the past 6 months.
May 1, 2008 - 12:23 PM on May 1st, 2008
“Really, because I have made plenty in the market over the past 6 months.”
Yes- it will be a 10-14% return miunimally as prices increase due to food shortages over the next year, the burning of corn for fuel and an increase in costs due to fuel in real investment return (not dollars).
The stock market is one of the least profitable options at this point over the shorter term, next to interest bearing investments such as CD’s and savings account. You may be making “X” percentage in dollars, but those dollars are worth much less so any “profit” is diminished substantially.
May 1, 2008 - 01:50 PM on May 1st, 2008
A return of any percent is still better than a depreciating appliance
May 1, 2008 - 03:06 PM on May 1st, 2008
Sorry, I was elsewhere on the Internet, stimulating the economy.
Ted, I look at it all as a matter of whose cow is getting gored. You can buy a walk-in unit, freeze a side of beef and have your power go out for a week or two when a tornado blows through. So much for that investment.
As for myself, be it the future, the economy or the weather, I don’t worry about things I can’t control.
In truth, numbers can be made to say anything you want if you have an agenda and proper motivation. If they change the method of measuring economic growth, then it’s apples and oranges to compare one method to a previous one. I don’t like the metric system because I’m only 1.95 meters according to that system and I just don’t feel as tall.
May 1, 2008 - 08:35 PM on May 1st, 2008
6.
Uhm…no.
The savings of the meat from purchasing the side of beef and the projected growth in cost when taken into account the yearly energy cost and the average life of the appliance is far, far better than what you will earn in the stock market especially when taken in consideration the shrinking value of those dollars you earned.
7.
As grossly speculative as that is, your scenario falls into the “slim to none” chance of happening.
“As for myself, be it the future, the economy or the weather, I don’t worry about things I can’t control.”
Sure, but standing in the middle of a tornado is fool hearty. Preparing for that tornado with a light, a safe area in the basement and a weather radio is different.
It isn’t a matter of control, it is a matter of preparation.
Regarding numbers, I am a corporate accountant so I understand them and realize what you say is true. Numbers can be made to say what ever you want. However, deception is still deception, and numbers can still misrepresent what they portray. That is exactly what the Fed’s report does: it misrepresents economical conditions such as inflation and growth.
By any real standard, we have begun a recession. The numbers have been misrepresented (and I can go into how if you wish, but I have done that here before), but it is to no avail. The first quarter in negative economic growth by this devious standard will occur this summer, as oil futures will only continue to go up. We will see today’s crude oil prices reflected then, as what we are seeing now is from 2-3 months ago when futures we at $100.00/barrel. because futures will continue to rise over the summer, that will spark the 3rd quarter’s negative economic growth.
May 1, 2008 - 08:49 PM on May 1st, 2008
Ted, that is just stupid. You are spending money on the energy to store your meat in a piece of equipment that does not appreciate in value. My money is sitting there untouched and growing in value on a daily basis, all the while, in my basement sits a freezer with meats and soups..I make money off of investment my investment accounts and save on grocery bills by buying during meat sales.
And Ted, you going into detail is to no avail because you don’t grasp the subject.
May 2, 2008 - 07:20 AM on May 2nd, 2008
No it’s not.
After the inital investment in the equipment and long term operating cost in energy, my investment will still out grow yours in the stock market over the short term. I will get a minimium 10-14% over the next year. The equipment does not appreciate in value (I know about depreciation and amortization as I deal with some $30 million in company internal assets on a weekly basis), however the meat itself does gain value as prices increase. When you will be paying $3.00/lb for hamburger, I will have paid less than a dollar per lb. Not only that, for every dollar I spend now, those dollars will be worth more than the dollar that you will spend in the future for your meat as the value of the dollar continues to plummet. The cost of meat during “meat sales” is still over twice as expensive.
I grasp the subject well Pam. It isn’t my fault that you don’t. I would suggest to go back and read the thread where I explained the diffrence in GDP vs. GNP and how GDP is a false indicator because it allows inflation to fasely indicate a growth in the economy. I haven’t gone into detail regarding the changes made in the early 80’s as to how inflation was figured, but I can do that if you’d like.
Were you even aware of these changes?
May 2, 2008 - 07:48 AM on May 2nd, 2008
May 2, 2008 - 08:13 AM on May 2nd, 2008
I thought as much.
May 15, 2008 - 04:36 PM on May 15th, 2008
Slim to none? I would have to disagree.
No one was expecting the lights to go out in August of ‘03 (anyone recall that big blackout?), and that had nothing to do with severe weather. A lot of people and merchants had freezers full of meat go bad.
I was there. I saw it. I know of what I speak.
May 16, 2008 - 03:20 PM on May 16th, 2008
#2
You apparently wouldn’t know a recession if one bit you in the arese.
Were you alive in during the gas lines of the early 1970s Sasha? I suspect you weren’t.
And now Bush is slamming negotiation rather than indiscriminate warfare against old family foes. Yeah… the repugs are something else all right.
They’re phucked.
May 16, 2008 - 05:38 PM on May 16th, 2008
Actually, Eben, I know a great deal about the gas lines of the early 70s, because I started driving in 1972.
Bush is an idiot for going begging to the Saudis to increase oil output.
The obvious question, the one that looms over this nation like a solar eclipse, is : WHY ARENT’T WE INCREASING PRODUCTION?
Because of the stupid ass Democrites and their Environutball allies.