According to the GDP, as reported by MSNBC, we just finished a record growth period unseen in 19 years.
The economy grew by 7.2%.
This is great news, and I hope all benefit from all of this.
Economy upswing
by freedom96 11 Replies latest jw friends
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Aztec
Me too!
~Aztec
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Phantom Stranger
technically, the GDP grew -however, there was still a net loss of jobs for the quarter, and there are not enough jobs being added each month to accomodate the new entrants to the job market.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2090498/
Exceprt:
But thus far, the Bush boom rests more on hope than hard data?and on a pretty weak definition of a boom.
Some of the Bush boom is a matter of defining performance. We have yet to see two consecutive quarters of impressive growth. And even if John Snow's prediction of 2 million new jobs in the next 12 months materializes, that is still poor by historical standards. That breaks down to only 166,000 new jobs per month?which barely covers the 150,000 new job-market entrants each month and leaves a mere handful of positions for the millions of jobless who are currently seeking work. Between October 1993 and October 2000, the economy created an average of 2.88 million jobs per year. That's a boom.
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xenawarrior
7.2 % is impressive and everyone is just hoping it sticks. Business is picking up for us and finally I'm seeing gains in my investments when I look at my statements instead of the loss brackets I was seeing for so long.
Now if we can get the powers that be around the country and the world to start buying capital equipment we'd see much more growth at a steady pace. Several of my clients; machine manufacturers, are seeing orders instead of the "tire kicking" they were for so long.
Crossing my fingers and toes up here....
XW
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stillajwexelder
Good news is always better than bad news -- except when the good news comes from JWs knocking at one's door
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Beans
STATS are so funny, a week ago I watched a program saying things would slightly be declining and depending on how (here in Canada) the interest rates are set by hte Bank of Canada it could go either way but knowone seems to be extatic.
I say that we are in a silent boom, things aren't getting worse and things aren't getting better but the work seems to be here very steadily. Usually when the construction industry slows down and things are not being built a year later it all follows, here anyway! But were still building, renovating and spending!
Beans
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SpunkyChick
This growth is encouraging to hear! I've just started two new jobs, after spending almost a year without gainful employment!
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franklin J
I am still waiting...Architects are the first to feel the pinch of recession....and the first to see the upswing coming....if our drawing boards ( computers these days) are busy with designs--you know that there will be new construciton coming, new jobs in construction, etc.
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Phantom Stranger
Consumer Spending Dips 0.3 Percent In September, consumer spending on "durable" goods ? big-ticket items, such as cars and appliances, expected to last at least three years, was cut by 5.1 percent.
By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Consumers kept a tighter grip on their wallets in September, trimming spending by 0.3 percent after a summertime shopping spree that propelled a third quarter of strong economic growth.
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The largest over-the-month decrease in spending in a year, reported Friday by the Commerce Department ( news - web sites ), came after consumer spending shot up by 1 percent in July and then another 1.1 percent in August. Consumers spent more lavishly earlier as they began to see the cash from President Bush ( news - web sites)'s third round of tax cuts.
Economists had said in advance of Friday's report that the brisk pace of spending ? which helped spur a 7.2 percent annual rate of growth in the third quarter ? just couldn't be sustained. They had predicted that shoppers would rein in their finances in September, and they did just that.
Analysts had forecast a 0.1 percent decrease in spending. The 0.3 percent decline was the largest since a 0.4 percent drop in September 2002.
Super-low short-term interest rates, the tax cuts and a refinancing wave helped to support spending and give the economy an energizing jolt in the summer.
The missing piece, however, for a sustained rebound is steady improvement in the nation's battered labor market, which has seen millions of job evaporate over the last three years, economists say. The risk: a prolonged sluggishness, or worse, a deterioration on the jobs front could crimp consumer spending, something that would slow the rebound.
Although economists are optimistic the job situation will get better, it is something that they are keeping a close eye on.
"The bottom line: job creation determines income and income drives spending," said Richard Yamarone, economist with Argus Research Corp. "There are a number of signs of improving labor market conditions, however, the job creation picture remains skittish."
As the stimulus provided by the tax cuts fades, the economy is expected to slow but still grow at a solid rate of perhaps 4 percent in the final quarter of this year, economists say.
In September, consumer spending on "durable" goods ? big-ticket items, such as cars and appliances, expected to last at least three years, was cut by 5.1 percent, reversing part of August's 3.8 percent gain.
But for "nondurables" such as food and clothes, consumers boosted spending by 0.3 percent in September, after a 1.4 percent increase the previous month. Consumer spending on services, meanwhile, rose 0.4 percent in September, up from a 0.3 percent gain in August.
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William Penwell
Boom, But Still No Jobs Tax Cuts Spurs Fastest Economic Growth Despite Job Loss
By Betsy StarkOct. 30? The economy roared back to life this summer, and for the first time in a long time, business led the change. Companies ratcheted up their spending by 11.1 percent, the biggest increase in three years.
Orit, the one-named president of a New York-based advertising agency, The O Group, says she's finally feeling confident enough in the recovery to invest thousands on new computers.
"I'm able to spend because I see the dollars coming in," Orit told ABCNEWS. "I see the projects and contracts being signed and I can project that it's not going to go away."
The economy also got a boost from a 6.6 percent surge in consumer spending.
Clarice Kennedy of Long Island, N.Y., got the cash for fixing up her vacation home by refinancing her mortgage ? spurred by the lowest interest rates in 45 years.
"I would say by the time we're done, we'll have put in anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000," she told ABCNEWS.
Tax Cut Helped ? But Not for Long
Most economists say President Bush's tax cut played a big part in Americans' third-quarter spending spree.
"Out of the 7.2 percent growth, if you wanted to parse it out, you'd have to argue that at least a percentage point ? probably closer to two percentage points ? could be attributed to the tax cuts," said Bruce Kasman, an economist with J.P. Morgan.
But many also agree its impact is likely to be short-lived. Those who got tax credits have spent them, which leaves the question: What happens to the economy now?
"Tax cuts can motivate the consumer. They obviously did in the third quarter," said Ed McKelvey, an economist with Goldman Sachs. "But to sustain long-term basis, you need it to be organic. And organic means job growth generating strong income growth."
Jobs are the missing piece in today's GDP report. Despite a blockbuster growth rate, the country still lost jobs ? 41,000 of them ? in the third quarter.
How can the economy grow at the fastest rate in two decades and not need new workers? The answer: productivity. Companies squeezed everything they could out of existing workers.
Before companies begin hiring new staffers, there will have to be signs of consistent, solid economic growth. And many economists think we are headed in that direction
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/WorldNewsTonight/3Qecon_boost031030.html
